The Nippon Ham Fighters announced today that they signed Brian Wolfe and Micah Hoffpauir to contracts for the 2013 season.  They also announced that Terrmel Sledge will not be returning next year.

The following comments from Wolfe and Hoffpauir were posted by the Fighters:

Wolfe: My love for team, Hokkaido, and the fans have grown strong after spending three years with the Fighters.  My family is happy they will be able to come back here again.  I want to always do my best in front of the fans in Hokkaido and all across Japan.  I will prepare myself for winning the Nippon Series next year by working hard once I return home.

Hoffpauir: I am happy that I will be able to return as a member of the Fighters in 2013 and fight to win with my teammates and the fans.   While we were able to win the pennant, we unfortunately failed to win a Nippon Series.  Next season, I will prepared to use all my abilities to in order to win a Nippon Series.  I look forward to the continued support.

Source: official announcement

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UPDATE @ 9:01pm - According to Sports Hochi, Wolfe signed a deal worth 105M yen (up 18M yen) and Hoffpauir 68M yen (up 5M yen).  Source: Sponichi Hochi 10/5/2012

According to Nikkan Sports, Terrmel Sledge (35) will not be returning to the the Nippon Ham Fighters next season.  An announcement will be made within the next couple of days.

Dustin Molleken's (28) status is still uncertain -- much will depend on negotiations.  Brian Wolfe (31) and Micah Hoffpauir (32) are both expected to return in 2013.

Source: Nikkan Sports 11/4/2012

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UPDATE @ 11:10pm - Bobby Keppel (30) is also expected to return next year.  Source: Daily Sports 11/4/2012

Brian Wolfe (31) and Micah Hoffpauir (32) will most likely return to the Nippon ham Fighters next season.

The Fighters exercised a club option on Wolfe and have reportedly agreed to pay him about 100M yen next season.  Hoffpauir drew interest from one or more NPB teams but has already unofficially agreed to sign a deal worth an estimated 80M yen.

Still no word on what Nippon Ham is planning with Bobby Keppel.  Terrmel Sledge will most likely not return.

The Fighters announced today that Micah Hoffpauir is scheduled to return to Japan on March 23 and rejoin the team for pre-game practice on March 24.

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Bobby Keppel's outing on Tuesday will likely be his last before the start of the regular season.

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Yuki Saito is scheduled to start Thursday's game against the Softbank Hawks (Sapporo Dome).

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The Fighters announced today that they will continue to donate money to Akaihane this season: 1,000 yen for every victory and 1,000 yen for every hit.

The Nippon Ham Fighters announced today that Micah Hoffpauir had his left knee cleaned at a hospital in Arizona.  He is expected to return to Japan in mid-March.

The Nippon Ham Fighters announced that Micah Hoffpauir will temporarily return to the US on Friday in order to get his left knee examined.

The media learned on Thursday that the Fighters decided they'll bring Micah Hoffpauir back next season while letting Bobby Scales go.

Scales is open to playing for another NPB team.

UPDATE 11/19 @ 6:53am - Hoffpauir's deal for 2012, according to Sponichi: about 63M yen (or US$820,000).  And according to Sports Hochi: about 70M yen (or US$820,000).  Seems they're working on a slightly different exchange rate.

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2011 Season - Micah Hoffpauir

2011 Season - Bobby Scales

Nikkan Sports reports that the Fighters announced earlier today that they signed Brian Wolfe and Bobby Keppel to contract extensions for the 2012 season.

Sponichi says that Keppel Wolf will return next year and that the Fighters will exercise Micah Hoffpauir's team option for the 2012.  Regarding Bobby Scales, they feel he won't be returning.

And Daily Sports reports that Wolfe and Keppel will return while Hoffpauir and Scales will likely be gone.

UPDATE @ 11:34am - Nikkan Sports is now also reporting that Scales won't be returning next year.  The reasons they list: Kensuke Tanaka is now healthy, his drop-off in production towards the end of the season due to pitchers making adjustments, and concerns about his defense.  As for Hoffpauir, they're saying he signed a 2-year deal before the start of the season and will therefore return in 2012.

UPDATE @ 12:34pm - Daily Sports is now also reporting that the Fighters signed Wolfe and Keppel to contract extensions for the 2012 season.

UPDATE 11/1 @ 1:15pm - According to Sports Hochi, Wolfe likely got a deal worth US$1.5M (120M yen) and Keppel US$1.1M (87M yen).

This post will be updated throughout the day.

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Today's intra-squad game:

The whites beat the reds, 4-3 (6 inning game).

Hoffpauir started at first and batted 5th for the red team.  He hit a homer (to right) off Kazuhito Tadano in the 4th inning.  Kenta Matsusaka followed with another home run (to center).

Kenshi Sugiya hit a 2-run double in the 2nd inning with runners on first and third and 1 out for the white team.  The hit came off Masaru Nakamura.

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The Fighters drew about 900 fans today.

===== 2/7 @ 2:41pm

Seems Yu Darvish might be feeling a little frustrated at the happy-go-luck attitude of Wirfin Obispo (and perhaps a little jealous, according to the title Nikkan Sports uses).  Darvish has already advised Obispo on his eating habits and on his tardiness to practices, but none of it seems to be sticking.

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Masataka Nashida told reporters yesterday that Micah Hoffpauir probably won't ever see a bunt sign during the season.  In other words, the team will likely leave it up to Hoffpauir to decide how to handle situations.

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Sho Nataka hit a double in his first at bat during situational BP yesterday.  But during his second at bat, with a runner on second and 1 out, he not only missed a sign, but he also grounded out to the pitcher.

Said Nakata, "Grounding out to the pitcher is the worst thing to do.  It made me realize how bad my team batting skills are."

This post will be updated throughout the day.

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Micah Hoffpauir swung the bat 49 times and hit the ball over the fence 6 times yesterday.

Said Hoffpauir, "They do a lot of hitting [over here].  I guess if you work this hard you're bound to keep your level of play up."

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Sho Nakata took 52 swings of the bat and hit 13 over the fence (a couple hit the scoreboard and some went out of the stadium completely) during BP yesterday.  Nakata also stayed back after general practice for about 45 minutes of extra BP.

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Masao Kida's father, Hideo, passed away at his home in Tokyo yesterday (stomach cancer).  He was 72.  Kida was in Kunigami, Okinawa for the start of Ni-gun spring camp, but was excused to return to Tokyo.