Director Kazuhisa Ishii, who also serves as general manager at professional baseball Rakuten, has revealed that he will not be general manager next season and will concentrate on coaching.

In September 2018, Rakuten's manager Ishii was appointed general manager in charge of team formation, and for the two years since last year, he has also held the position of manager and has taken full control of the team.



Manager Ishii said on the 4th, "Until now, I've been thinking about accumulating as many wins as possible and the team winning, but I've decided to change my approach and face the next season. Administrative work during the season will be done at the team headquarters." He announced a comment through the team and revealed that he will concentrate on coaching next season.



Rakuten failed to advance to the Climax Series for the first time in two years after finishing 4th this season.



As general manager, Ishii has worked hard to secure pitcher Masahiro Tanaka's return from the major leagues and recruit players such as Hideto Asamura, who later became the main force of the team. In the next season, I will focus on the manager who is the top of the field and aim to rebuild the team.