Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara has offered his resignation to the club after it finished fourth and out of the playoff spot for the second straight year in the six-team Central League, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
Having previously won nine league titles and three Japan series managing his old club, the 65-year-old former Giant struggled during his third stint and is set to step down with a year still left on his three-year contract.
Shinnosuke Abe, the 44-year-old former Giant currently a coach at the club, is likely to be promoted to the managerial post once Hara's departure is confirmed.
In his 17th year skippering Yomiuri, Hara could not get his team involved in the pennant race after his key players failed to find form from the early stages of the season.
Yomiuri finished in the bottom half of the CL standings for two years in a row for the first time since 2005 and 2006, and also for the first time under the same manager.
Former slugging catcher Abe, who retired in 2019, had 2,132 hits and 406 home runs during his 19-year professional career with Yomiuri, his only club.