The Yokohama BayStars released infielder Bobby Rose on Tuesday after failing to reach an agreement over a new contract with the 33-year-old infielder.
The baseball commissioner's office confirmed the release of Rose, who is expected to draw renewed interest from other Japanese teams after hitting over .300 for seven seasons in his eight-year career with the Central League club.
"We were unable to narrow the differences over financial terms, and that was the main reason. We considered a trade, but there were no positive answers from any of the potential partners," Yokohama general manger Yoshio Noguchi said.
Yokohama announced the decision one day before Japanese baseball clubs have to start paying allowances to players still in contract negotiations for this year, based on their salaries for last year. Rose, the 1999 CL batting champion, announced his retirement in October.