Veteran lefty Kimiyasu Kudo, the oldest active player in Japanese baseball at age 47, will be left out of the Seibu Lions' plans for next season, a baseball source said Monday.
According to a source, Kudo hopes to continue his career elsewhere and will look to ply his trade overseas if he fails to receive any offers from domestic clubs.
Kudo has already heard of Seibu's intention and the team is set to make an announcement after the conclusion of the regular season.
Kudo returned to his former team for the first time in 16 years this season but had a slow start after suffering from elbow pain in his pitching arm.
He was only promoted to the top team on July 18 and two days later extended his own record for the longest career to 29 years when he made a relief appearance against the Softbank Hawks.