A professional baseball committee led by Japanese commissioner Ryozo Kato confirmed Monday that it aims to select a manager for the national team for next year's World Baseball Classic as soon as possible.
Kato said the committee is moving ahead to discuss managerial prospects for the second WBC tournament next March.
"We all agreed it is necessary to have a strong team that can win in the WBC," said Kato, adding that he plans to get opinions from several sources in the selection process, including Softbank Hawks skipper Sadaharu Oh.
There has been talk of Senichi Hoshino leading the national team, but Japan finished in a disappointing fourth place with Hoshino at the helm at this summer's Beijing Olympics.
Oh, who led Japan to the inaugural WBC title in March 2006 but underwent an operation to have his stomach removed after he was diagnosed with cancer the same year, said he is physically unable to act as manager for the national team.