Nippon Professional Baseball’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles are hiring Masato Yoshii as their new manager, according to multiple reports.
The news comes as a major surprise after the Eagles mutually agreed to part ways with Hajime Miki on June 9. Miki had been with the organization since 2019 and was the skipper for parts of three seasons. Coach Tatsuya Shiokawa, who was considered close to Miki, has served as interim manager since his departure. Many believed that the 43-year-old would remain in that role until the end of the season, but Rakuten has now elected to bring in a fresh voice from outside the organization.
Yoshii, 61, recently completed a three-year managerial tenure with the Chiba Lotte Marines. He led the club to two postseason appearances in 2023 and 2024 before finishing last in 2025, which led to his resignation. He will manage his first game with the Eagles on June 19 against his former team.
Before becoming Lotte’s manager, Yoshii held coaching roles with the Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and Marines from 2008 to 2022. He also served as Samurai Japan’s pitching coach under Hideki Kuriyama during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
As a player, Yoshii pitched professionally as both a starter and reliever from 1985 to 2007. The Wakayama native began his career with a decade-long stint for the Kintetsu Buffaloes and later appeared in NPB for the Yakult Swallows, Orix BlueWave/Buffaloes, and Marines.
During his time with the Swallows, he was teammates with Kazuhisa Ishii, who is now the General Manager of the Eagles. Yoshii also spent five seasons in Major League Baseball with the New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, and Montreal Expos.
Fan reaction to the hiring has generally been positive, with many supporters eager for a significant change and Yoshii regarded as one of Japan’s better pitching minds. He is perhaps best known for his role in Roki Sasaki’s development during their time together in Lotte.
He was also viewed as a relatively progressive manager, though his popularity waned toward the end of his tenure, particularly because of his reliance on coach Makoto Kaneko’s more old-school strategic tendencies. The move to Rakuten also appears to rule Yoshii out as a potential successor to Hirokazu Ibata as the Japanese national team manager.
Yoshii inherits a team in turmoil. Rakuten owns the second-worst record in NPB this season at 23-39-1 and endured a brutal interleague campaign, finishing 4-13 as the only Pacific League club without a winning record.
Photo: The Japanese consul-general in New York, Ambassador Mikio Mori, left, and former New York Mets pitcher Masato Yoshii waive to fans after a ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Mets and the Colorado Rockies, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
