On the 22nd, Seibu Lions announced that they had signed a player contract with pitcher Alan Winans on December 18th. number was decided to be "30".

Winans commented through the team, "I am very honored to be a part of a team with such a long history and such a beloved team. I will do my best for my teammates and colleagues and look forward to fighting together every day. My family and I are truly grateful for this opportunity. I will do my best to share the joy of winning with all The Lions fans."

Team General Manager Hiroike Koji expressed his expectations, saying, "He is a skillful right-handed pitcher with the starting type of skill who has had excellent results in AAA this season. We imagine him pitch by making use of defense ability to accumulate outs and earn inning, and he has recorded a high strike out rate and a low BB rate in AAA, so we are very excited to see what kind of pitch he will show against NPB hitter. In addition to the fact that he continues to hone his pitch with an insatiable desire to explore, the fact that he strongly desired to play in Japan despite being a player with a major league contract was also a factor in our decision to acquire him. We look forward to seeing him perform well as one of the pillars of our starting rotation."

Winans pitched in three games this season in the majors, with a record of 0 wins, 1 loss, and ERA of 8.68. In his career, he pitched in 11 games in the majors, with a record of 1 win, 5 losses, ERA of 7.48.

▼ Winans' profile

Date of Birth: August 10, 1995

Height and weight: 188cm, 81kg

Place of birth: America

Baseball career: Frontier High School - Bakersfield College - Campbell University

Position: pitcher

Throwing/batting: Right-handed pitching/Right-handed batting