The Tohoku Rakuten Godlen Eagles' managing director indicated Tuesday that the club would pursue free agent right-hander Chihiro Kaneko, the ace of the Pacific League's Orix Buffaloes.
A day after Kaneko said he was not inclined to ask Orix to post him to the majors this winter, Eagles executive Hiroshi Abei said, "Now that he has clarified his stance, we want to start preparing an offer to him."
The Eagles are not alone in their interest, with the Central League's Hanshin Tigers also expressing interest.
The 31-year-old Kaneko won the Sawamura Award this year as Japan's outstanding starting pitcher, a Golden Glove for fielding excellence and the Best IX Award for PL pitchers.
The league leader in wins (16) and ERA (1.98) had filed for domestic free agency.
"There isn't a team that wouldn't want a pitcher of that caliber," said Hanshin general manager Katsuhiro Nakamura, while the team's president, Nobuo Minami indicated the Tigers were making arrangements to try and acquire the pitcher.
Kaneko, who will not be eligible to file for free agency again until at least 2018, said he may seek to go to the United States in the future, but Abei said Rakuten wants to lock him up to a multiyear deal.
"We are not trying to acquire him only to post him right away," Abei said. "We want to acquire him to be a long-contributing member of a championship contender."