KOBE – The Orix Buffaloes have made an offer to veteran slugger Norihiro Nakamura and continue contract talks with Kazuhiro Kiyohara, club president Takashi Koizumi said Thursday.
“You never know what’s going to happen until we actually sign him. Feel free to guess,” Koizumi said when asked about the details of the offer Orix made to Nakamura. Orix is ready to begin talks with Nakamura after making inquiries about the former Kintetsu Buffaloes infielder, who played 17 major-league games with the Los Angeles Dodgers but failed to earn a recall since being demoted to Triple-A Las Vegas in May.
Orix is already in talks with Kiyohara after offering him a deal that reportedly includes an annual salary of about 300 million yen. Kiyohara was released by the Yomiuri Giants in October after struggling with a .212 batting average with 22 homers and 52 RBIs this year before having season-ending knee surgery in August.
Orix expressed interest in acquiring the services of the popular 38-year-old infielder shortly after his release.
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