Rakuten Eagles announced on the 17th that former Lotte manager Masato Yoshii (61) will be taking over as their new manager. Yoshii and owner Hiroshi Mikitani (61) held a press conference in Sendai. When asked about the reason for taking this unusual step of changing personnel mid-season, owner Mikitani explained, "We believe that we cannot build a consistently strong team unless we change the direction of the team in the medium to long term and implement various reforms."

According to the owner, he met with the manager and offered him the position, thinking it was a long shot, but the manager accepted, seemingly taking on a risky challenge. Regarding the contract period, he mentioned it was a "medium- to long-term contract."

Rakuten Eagles was in contention for first place until mid-April this season, but then their performance plummeted. After 63 games, they are struggling with a record of 23 wins, 39 losses, and 1 tie, putting them 16 games below .500. They even changed their coaching staff in May, but still saw no dramatic improvement.

At 1:00 AM on the 10th, after The Giants game in which the team's deficit reached 15 games (according to Rakuten Eagles Mobile), the team made a surprise announcement that manager Miki would be taking a leave of absence. Since the announcement, head coach Shiokawa has been serving as acting manager. Aiming for further progress, the team has brought in Mr. Yoshii as the new manager midway through the season. This marks an unusual timing for a new manager to be brought in from outside the organization.

Yoshii has amassed 121 wins in his combined career in Japan and the US, and as a coach, he has nurtured top-class pitcher such as Yu Darvish (Padres) and Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers). In 2022, he coached Roki Sasaki (Dodgers) as the pitching coordinator for the Lotte Marines. From 2023, he served as the manager of the Lotte Marines for three years, and in his first year as manager, he led the team from fifth place the previous year to second place.

New manager Yoshii's first game is expected to be against Lotte on the 19th (at ZOZO Marine Stadium), which will be the first game since the league resumed. Attention is focused on whether Rakuten Eagles 's unusual decision, spearheaded by owner Mikitani, will be a factor in changing the tide.

◆Masato Yoshii: Born April 20, 1965, in Wakayama Prefecture. Age 61. Joined Kintetsu in 1983 as the second overall pick in the draft after graduating from Minoshima High School. Transferred to Yakult in 1995, and joined the Mets as a free agent in the offseason of 1997. After playing for three MLB teams, Orix Buffaloes in 2003. Transferred to Lotte midway through the 2007 season and retired that same year. Served as a coach for Nippon-Ham from 2008 to 2012, Softbank Hawks in 2015, Nippon-Ham from 2016 to 2018, and Lotte from 2019 to 2021. Served as pitching coordinator for Lotte in 2022, and managed Lotte from 2023 to 2025. His career record in Japan and the US is 547 appearances, with 121 wins, 129 losses, and 62 saves. Right-handed pitcher and batter.