The Seibu Lions announced that they signed Jose Ortiz (35) and Brian Sikorski (38) to contracts for the 2013 season.  Ortiz will return to Seibu after joining the team in June this year; his uniform number will change from fourteen to eight.  Sikorski took a tryout with the team during fall camp and passed.  Source: official announcement

UPDATE 12/1 @ 10:23am - Ortiz's deal: 34 million yen plus performance bonuses.  Sikorski's deal: 25 million yen plus performance bonuses.  Source: Sanspo 12/1/2012

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The Chiba Lotte Marines announced that they informed Doug Mathis and Hayden Penn they will not be offered contracts for the 2013 season.  Source: official announcement

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Edgar Gonzalez was left off the Yomiuri Giants' reserved list and will become a free agent.  Dicky Gonzalez has also been released and will not be returning next season.  Source: Sanspo 11/30/2012

Seibu Lions' team director Haruhiko Suzuki spoke to reporters today and said the team was close to re-signing Jose Ortiz (35), Esteban German (34), and Randy Williams (37) to contracts for the 2013 season.

Source: Nikkan Sports 11/22/2012

In other team news...

The Lions announced a list of uniform number changes: Ortiz from 14 to 8; Masamitsu Hirano from 19 to 23; Ryo Hayashizaki from 00 to 45; Fumikazu Kimura from 41 to 51; and Michael Nakamura from 69 to 121.  New Ikusei players Anyenil Mendoza and Abner Abreu were assigned the numbers 124 and 125, respectively.  Source: official announcement

Shotaro Tashiro lost ten kilograms over the course of the regular season and plans to regain it during the winter.  Source: Nikkan Sports 11/22/2012

Hisanobu Watanabe feels Tatsuya Oishi and Ryo Sakata could become key players next year -- Oishi out of the bullpen and Sakata in the outfield.  Source: Sanspo 11/22/2012

Hiroyuki Nakajima returned to Japan today and is scheduled to attend fan appreciation day on Friday.  Source: Sponichi 11/22/2012

The Seibu Lions announced today that they signed thirty-four-year-old INF Jose Ortiz.  The Lions will hold a press conference on Thursday to announce their newest acquisition.

UPDATE 6/7 @ 4:39pm - The Lions held a press conference for Ortiz at the team offices in Tokorozawa today.  The two sides agreed on a one-year deal worth an estimated 16M yen.  Ortiz was assigned the number 14.  Source: Nikkan Sports 6/7/2012

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NPB Career Stats

2012 Stats

According to Nikkan Sports, the Chiba Lotte Mariners are looking into former Softbank Hawk Jose Ortiz (34).  Lotte feels Ortiz might be able to help fill their power needs.  They also feel comfortable about his established presence.

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Team official Nobuhira Hayashi told reporters on Saturday that the team is prepared to give up compensation to the Yomiuri Giants for signing Saburo.

A number of sources, including Nikkan Sports, Sanspo, and Sponichi, are reporting that D.J. Houlton will become a free agent.  The Softbank Hawks will continue to negotiate with Houlton but there is also a good chance that he will be approached by other teams.

As for the other foreign players: Alex Cabrera and Brian Falkenborg will remain with the team while Jose Ortiz and Yhency Brazoban move on.

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2011 Season - D.J. Houlton

D.J. Houlton (US), Brian Falkenborg (US), Jose Ortiz (US/Dominican Republic), Alex Cabrera (Venezuela), and Yhency Brazoban (Dominican Republic) all left for their respective homes today.

Before leaving, Houlton spoke to reporters and said, "If the terms are good, there is no doubt that this (Fukuoka) is where I want to return."

Falkenborg and Cabrera are expected to remain with the team; Ortiz and Brazoban are likely on their way out.

Nikkan Sports reports that unless 34-year-old Jose Ortiz takes a fairly big pay cut, he most likely won't be returning with the team next season.  With Alex Cabrera still under contract (he signed a 2-year deal before the start of the 2011 season) and the Hawks already looking into other foreign alternatives, Ortiz's days in a Softbank uniform may be numbered.

Sponichi is reporting that based on comments from people close to Tsuyoshi Wada and Munenori Kawasaki, the two will likely exercise their international FA options.  A person close to the team also mentioned that Jose Ortiz probably won't return next year.

Not much is known about what Toshiya Sugiuchi will do.

Jose Ortiz was taken off the active roster today due to pain in his left flank.  Ortiz was hit by a pitch in the area during last night's game against the Chunichi Dragons (Wei-Ying Chen on the mound).

UPDATE @ 10:25pm - Ortiz was actually checked out at a hospital in Nagoya last night, but with no improvement in his condition, he'll be getting checked out again at a hospital in Fukuoka.

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FYI: Tsuyoshi Wada was also taken off the active roster today.  Not for any injury, but because he's not scheduled to pitch any more during Inter-league play.

Jose Ortiz was taken off the active roster today with a left hamstring strain / tear.   Ortiz suffered the injury while running the bases in yesterday's game against the Nippon Ham Fighters.