Seibu Lions On March 28, Mitsunari Takahashi pitcher attended contract renewal negotiations at the team's office in Tokorozawa, Saitama, and signed for 250 million yen, an increase of 40 million yen (both amounts are estimates). Koji Hiroike, the team's general manager, who attended the negotiations, breathed a sigh of relief: "We talked about our expectations for this year, and the player himself expressed his strong determination.

Last offseason, the team, sensing Takahashi Hikaru's strong desire to move to the majors, applied to MLB for permission to use the posting system. Takahashi continued negotiations tenaciously until the deadline of 5 PM on January 4th (7 AM Japan time on January 5th), but was unable to reach an agreement and decided to stay. After the negotiations, Takahashi expressed his unwavering desire to stay in the majors, saying, "It would be the most uncool thing to give up now." The general manager revealed that there was no discussion during the negotiations, saying, "I always accept it, and it's been that way for the past few years, so there wasn't much to reconsider today." If all goes well, Takahashi Hikaru will acquire overseas free agent rights this season. Discussions regarding exercising his rights and another move to the majors are expected to take place again this offseason.

Seibu Lions 's Imai was transferred to the Astros via the posting system. With the team's starting lineup thinning, Takahashi Mitsunari decided to stay. "It's a huge deal. To be honest, I was thinking about what would happen if he didn't come back. With Mitsunari's return, we're thinking of temporarily ending pitcher, especially our starting lineup. He's that big of a presence," he said, expressing high expectations.