Seibu Lions' second-round draft pick, pitcher Seiya Kakimoto (24) of Panasonic, entered negotiations at a hotel in Osaka City on the 13th and signed a provisional contract with a signing bonus of 70 million yen and an annual salary of 13 million yen (estimated). He expressed his enthusiasm, saying, 'I want to aim to stay with the first team for the full year and win the Rookie of the Year award. In terms of titles, I want to win the Sawamura Award.'

Senior Advisor Tetsuya Shiozaki (57), who joined the Seibu Lions as the first-round draft pick in 1989 from Matsushita Electric (the predecessor of Panasonic) and recorded 82 career wins as a pitcher, attended the press conference and evaluated him, saying, 'He is surprisingly slender and feels like a pitcher with a lot of room for growth. Even so, he can already throw fastballs exceeding 150 km/h with good control, so I really have high expectations for him starting next year.' Shiozaki's trademark was the sinker. While Kakimoto himself handles six types of breaking balls, he has not yet mastered the sinker, and his eyes sparkled as he said, 'He is a legend of The Lions and a pitcher with an amazing sinker, so I would love for him to teach me. I want to work hard to catch up to and eventually surpass him.'

Since Panasonic will be suspending its operations at the end of this season, Kakimoto is the last player to turn professional at this point. 'I want to be a player with a long career. I want to play with the determination of someone carrying the Panasonic name on my back,' he said emphatically.