A baseball club in Hokkaido has joined hands with the Florida Marlins for the first tie-up agreement between a Japanese amateur team and a major league organization.
Chitose Baseball Club Hokkaido announced the deal with the Marlins on Thursday, under which it will form a new team called the Hokkaido Marlins and take part in a minor-league training camp of the Marlins organization.
Tetsuro Hirose, a former Nippon Ham Fighters player, has been named manager of the Hokkaido Marlins, who are scheduled to hold a player tryout in August prior to participation in a regional amateur league.