Acting Hanshin Tigers vice chairman Masatoshi Tezuka is set to take over as owner of the Central League club after Shunjiro Kuma revealed his intention to resign over unethical scouting of an amateur prospect, baseball sources said Saturday.
The plan to appoint 73-year-old Tezuka, chairman of Hanshin Electric Railway Co., is expected to be high on the agenda of the parent company's board meeting on Monday along with the selection of the successor to Tigers president Katsuyoshi Nozaki, they said.
Nozaki also said he will step down to take the responsibility after the Tigers admitted Friday that they lured highly touted former Meiji University pitcher Yasuhiro Ichiba by paying money in violation of collegiate baseball bylaws.