The Kimiyasu Kudo becoming Yokohama's next manager story is gaining traction.  Sanspo reported earlier this morning that DeNA was originally interested in hiring 39-year-old Tsuyoshi Shinjo, but talks fell through because they could not agree on the number of years.  That may have been when Kudo suddenly became the next best option.  And according to the Sanspo report, Kudo may also be willing to retire if he gets on offer from the Bay Stars.

Nikkan Sports offers a similar opinion and adds that a retirement announcement could come some time this month after Kudo was quoted as saying, "The doctors told me my shoulder was inflamed.  I have been told that it will take some time to heal. ... If I decide to go to the US [for tryouts], I need to begin throwing in February, otherwise I will just be a pest.  I have to calculate backwards from that and decide what I am going to do next year.  I would like to decide before the end of the month."

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