This post will be updated throughout the day.

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Yoshihisa Naruse, Yuki Karakawa, and Yuta Omine all tossed bullpen sessions today (third time in as many days for all the of them).  Naruse threw 73 pitches, including his slider, curve, and change; he also had someone stand in the batter's box.  Karakawa threw 70 pitches and said that he wanted to throw 100 pitches during his next bullpen session during the next block of spring camp.  Omine threw 118 pitches and told reporters he wanted to polish his fastball more.

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Yuji Yoshimi threw 120 pitches in the bullpen today.  He later told reporters that he was the type of pitcher that needed to prepare for the season by throwing a lot and that his first priority was nailing down his mechanics.  Yoshimi also said that he was prepared to pitch out of any spot he was needed in (starting or relieving).

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Shunsuke Watanabe threw 89 pitches in the bullpen on Wednesday.  He also had someone stand in the batter's box (both sides) and worked the inside corners and later told reporters he wanted to take back the inside portion of the plate.  This was Watanabe's second bullpen session in as many days (he threw 95 the day before).

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Team director Akira Ishikawa told reporters on Wednesday that they have not yet received a protected players list from the Hanshin Tigers.  He also said that he planned on sending scouts to Ginoza, Okinawa and Aki, Kochi once they got the list in order to check on the available talent.  Based on the NPB rules, the Tigers have until the 10th to submit a finalized protected players list to the Marines.  Lotte will then have 40 days (until 3/8) to decide on whether they want money-only compensation or money + player compensation.  Ishikawa then added that the team was looking for an infielder.

Shingo Ono met with the Chiba Lotte Marines today and agreed to a 3-year deal worth 300m yen plus incentives.  His salary of 100M yen for the 2011 season is down 5M yen from this past season.

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Shunsuke Watanabe ended up donating 1.7M yen to the World Food Programme this year (10,000 yen for each inning he pitched, including the post-season).  That apparently translates to 57,000 meals.

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The media learned on Monday that Takashi Ogino's right knee was still swollen from the surgery that took place in May.  While Ogino is making progress, it seems it's going to take a bit longer before the swelling goes away completely.  Ogino also has plans to drop by the Toyota baseball training grounds later this month in order to say hi to his old team.

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Ikuhiro Kiyota got a physical at Chiba Marine Stadium on Monday and weighed in 90kg.  He apparently lost 2kg and is working towards getting back to his ideal weight of 87kg.  Kiyota is currently on a diet that includes lots of vegetables.

JPBPA chairperson Takahiro Arai (HAN) and JPBPA vice chairperson Shunsuke Watanabe (LOT) visited Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara on Friday for the JPBPA's Baseball Christmas 2010 in Komazawa press conference.

While the gathering was supposed to be about the event, it seems Ishihara spent some time criticizing the international FA rule and some of the rules governing how much contact NPB players can have with amateur players.

Said Ishihara, "Yakyu is the most closed off sport.  You need to what, wait 10 years* for free agency?  And you can't play games against amateurs, there are like 4-5 of those kinds of things. ... Soccer has move more quickly.  Players go from J2 to J1, from J1 to Europe, they move instantly.  [Yakyu] doesn't have that kind of freedom.  And it isn't like they'll use you in America because you're older.  Tell them like it is, that Yakyu is behind the times. ... I feel sorry for the players.  They have no freedom.  They can only do what they are told.  Inclusive of the free agency rules, it just doesn't compare to soccer."

The press conference / meeting lasted about 15 minutes.  The three also played some catch.

* it's actually 8 years for domestic and 9 years for international.  The JPBPA is currently trying to cut that down to 7 for both.

According to a number of reports (like Sanspo and Jiji) Shunsuke Watanabe (domestic), Shingo Ono (international), and Saburo (international) all decided that they won't be exercising their FA options in order to stay with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Tomoya Satozaki met with the Chiba Lotte Marines today and apparently told them that he wanted to stay because he loved the team.  Shunsuke Watanabe is also in the talks with the team and while he didn't say which way he was leaning, he did say that he liked Chiba and enjoyed pitching in Chiba.  He apparently put the Marines on hold and will have at least one more meeting with them before deciding what he wants to do.

Hiroyuki Kobayashi met with the Marines today as well and told them that he was going to exercise his international FA option to pursue his dream of playing in the Majors.

Today marked the first day for players with options to file for free agency.  Players will have until the 16th to submit the necessary paperwork to become free agents.  A complete list of free agents will then be published by the commissioner's office on the 17th.  Clubs will be allowed to negotiate with free agents beginning on the 18th.

Amongst some of the players that have options...

As of now, it seems Seiichi Uchikawa (Yokhoma, domestic), Toru Hosokawa (Seibu, domestic), Hiroyuki Kobayashi (Lotte, international), and Yoshinori Tateyama (Nippon Ham, international) will most likely be exercising their FA options.

Yoshiyuki Ishihara (Hiroshima, domestic) is still unsure about what he wants to do and told reporters that he plans on waiting until the very last minute.

Seibu Lions' players Hiroshi Hirao (international) Tomoaki Sato (domestic), Masahiro Abe (domestic) and Fumiya Nishiguchi (international) will likely won't exercise their options while Yoshihito Ishii (international) has put the Lions on hold and Tomoki Hoshino (domestic) just recently received his first offer from the team.

Shuichi Murata (Yokohama, domestic) still can't decide but is hoping to have a decision ready before the end of the week.

The Chiba Lotte Marines will likely meet with Tomoya Satozaki (domestic) and Shunsuke Watanabe (domestic) on the 10th.

Mitsutaka Goto (Orix, domestic) is still mulling things over and told reporters today that he needed more time to think.  He'll probably meet with the front office again on the 10th.  The Buffaloes are rumored to have a 3-year, 300M yen contract on the table.

Shunsuke Watanabe faced 6 batters and threw 20 pitches in a simulated game on Monday.  He later told reporters he had a good feel for the ball and that he cut his session a little short because the mound was soft from the rain and he didn't want to mess with his mechanics too much.

In other team-related news...

On Sunday, the Marines and Nippon Ham Fighters decided to schedule a practice game for the 27th.

Shunsuke Watanabe (LOT) has been struggling and it seems his latest start was enough for the Marines to decide it was time to ship him down to Ni-gun.

Since his last victory on 7/28 vs the Seibu Lions, Watanabe is 0-4 in 7 starts with a 8.10 ERA and 1.97 WHIP.

In other Lotte pitching staff related news:

Brian Corey will likely get today's start against the Softbank Hawks.  The Marines were hoping that Yuki Karakawa might be ready for the start, but it seems Corey will get it instead.

Corey joined the Ichi-gun roster for practice on Wendesday.

Shunsuke Watanabe (LOT) and Bill Murphy (LOT) both threw about 100 pitches in the bullpen on Monday.  They are both scheduled to make starts in an upcoming two game series against the Orix Buffaloes that begins on Tuesday.

7:58pm JST

...Shunsuke Watanabe earned his domestic FA option today.

5:03pm JST

...Tsuyoshi Nishioka extended his hitting streak to 20 games last night.  Nishioka also recorded his 10th 3+ hit game of the season.

...Masaichi Kaneda will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on 6/1 (vs Yomiuri).