No big surprise here.

The Swallows announced that they have agreed to terms with Atsushi Fujimoto and will be making an official announcement at some point in the near future.

No other details are known at this time.

Career Stats

=== UPDATE 11/26/2009 12:57pm JST

According to Sanspo, the two sides agreed to a 2-year deal worth 100M yen and the uniform number 10.   A press conference is supposedly set to take place on the 30th.

=== UPDATE 11/30/2009  8:09pm JST

The Swallows held a press conference on Monday to officially announce Fujimoto.

As mentioned before, he agreed to a 2-year deal worth 100M yen and will be wearing the number 10.

=== UPDATE 12/1/2009 10:40am JST

Fujimoto's salary for the 2010 season will be 36M yen.

=== UPDATE 2:10pm JST

Q&A via Sanspo:

On signing an official contract...

I'm really happy.  I'm looking at this as a new challenge for myself.  I want to apply everything I've learned up to now.

There are some expectations on you to help lead the club...

Yakult has a lot of young players, so communication will be important.  I'll tell them everything I know to help lead the infielders.

You might have a shot at working with 2004 Olympic team mate, Miyamoto...

I really look up to Miaymoto.  I'm honored to have a chance to play alongside him.

Your goals for next season...

As long as I'm playing, my goal is to win the league title and become Nippon Series champs.  I'm going to really work on my lower half this off-season so that I'll be able to continue playing for at least another 3-4 years.

The Yakult Swallows will be meeting with Atsushi Fujimoto later today in Osaka.  The club is said to be preparing a multi-year deal for Fujimoto and the number 10.

The Swallows' chief scout immediately reached out to Fujimoto on Thursday, the first day free agents can speak to clubs other than their own, to set up their meeting for today.

=== UPDATE 7:48am JST

Sponichi is reporting that the Swallows could offer Fujimoto a 2-year deal worth a total 100M yen.

Club director Kesanori Kurashima and scouts Susumu Watanabe and Akimitsu Ito will likely be present at the meeting.

=== UPDATE 9:35pm JST

The Swallows did indeed offer Fujimoto a 2-year deal with 100M yen.

"They said that they wanted me to help lead their infielders.  That made me happy," said Fujimoto.

Atsushi Fujimoto officially declared that he will be exercising his FA option.

"I did feel as if the Tigers really wanted me to stay, but I wanted to stay true to myself and test the FA waters.  I am grateful to the Tigers for helping me become the play I am.  I also want to thank the fans that helped support me these past 9 years with their warm cheers.

"I want this to be a new start for me, I want to start from scratch.  I won't have the Hanshin Tigers name behind me any more, so I want to move forward a Atsushi Fujimoto, the player," said Fujimoto at his press conference today.

While Fujimoto doesn't swing a big bat, he can provide some stability with his glove.

The Swallows have expressed interest in Fujimoto.