The Daiei Hawks have released Puerto Rican outfielder Melvin Nieves, officials of the Pacific League club said on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old Nieves, a former major leaguer with the Cincinnati Reds, hit 15 homers this past season to help Daiei to its second straight Pacific League pennant and homered twice for the Hawks in their defeat to the Yomiuri Giants at the Japan Series.
Nieves, who posted a batting average of .216, however, failed to live up to the expectations of manager Sadaharu Oh, who took him off the active roster saying that Nieves "could not adjust to Japanese style baseball."
In June, Nieves was relegated to the minors and was given a warning by the club for storming out of Maruyama Stadium in Sapporo after being lifted for a pinch hitter in Daiei's 4-3 loss to Seibu.
The Daiei Hawks last week announced the acquisition of outfielder Pedro Valdes from the Texas Rangers, who will likely fill the gap left by Nieves.