Internet services company Rakuten on Tuesday introduced American Marty Kuehnert as the general manager of the company's new professional baseball club.
American Marty Kuehnert has been hired as general manager of the new Rakuten baseball team,
the Internet services company announced in Tokyo. Rakuten has applied to join Nippon Pro Baseball as the organization's 12th team and play in Sendai starting next season.
Tokyo-based Rakuten, which also owns the J. League's Vissel Kobe, is one of two Japanese Internet services companies bidding to enter Japanese professional baseball next season, but is widely considered to have the inside track over opponent Livedoor.