(Translated, via JP Sankeinews.com)

It wasn’t really that long when Matt Murton (34 years old) returned to play in the US, but after signing a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs in early February of this year, he said in a statement in the link above that he would like to return and play some Yakyu in Japan again… Media outlet Sankei news has it that this upcoming mid-May, Matt Murton will approach his agent and see if there’s any NPB teams out there that are still interested in him, and… fortunately for him, there is one team from the Central League that has shown early interest in Matt Murton, the Yokohama DENA Baystars, with former Major Leaguer Alex Ramirez as their new manager this season.

The Yokohama DENA Baystars organization said that the team would still like to add another foreign player in their roster this season to improve their offense… and Matt Murton, with his NPB experience, seems that he would be a likely fit. Matt Murton is said to be looking for a deal in the 100 million Yen range with some added incentives… while the money contract may still be a tad low on what Hanshin gave him throughout his years playing with them, the money contract he is looking for is still pretty high compared to his minor league deal with the Cubs… And also, knowing Murton’s track record and popularity in Japan, there’s a pretty high chance that he’ll be playing in the NPB again (if not retire there), and no doubt other NPB teams (other than Yokohama) as well will/might also consider signing him, that is if his plans for this upcoming May is still set in motion. Matt Murton’s NPB career stats can be seen here.

Matt Murton is currently batting .333/.300/.444 (3 for 9 with 3 RBI’s) in 4 games played with Triple-A Iowa Cubs this season.