Yakult Swallows left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii, in a turnaround from his earlier decision to stay in Japanese baseball, said Thursday he would like to try entering the major leagues via the posting system for the 2002 season.
After its meeting with Ishii earlier in the day, Yakult said it will soon let the major league clubs know through the Japanese commissioner's office that they can negotiate with the 28-year-old.
"It's always been a dream of mine to play in the majors. I want to challenge myself and finish off an exciting baseball career," Ishii said in explaining his reason for choosing the majors.
"I had to be true to myself and this is the conclusion I made," added Ishii, who posted a 12-6 record with a 3.39 ERA in 2001 and helped Yakult win the Central League and Japan Series titles this past season.