Chunichi Dragons infielder Omar Linares has decided to retire after being left out of the picture for next season, officials of the Central League team said Friday.
Linares, 37, was the core of the Cuban national team for more than a decade and a member of the gold medal-winning teams at the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992 and in Atlanta four years later.
He joined Chunichi in 2002 to become the first Cuban to play for a pro baseball club, excluding defectors.
Linares' career in Japan has been plagued by a string of injuries, with his regular-season appearances limited to 60 games this year with just four homers and 28 RBIs.
He showed his old form for the Central League champions in the Japan Series against the Seibu Lions, hitting .389 and two homers in seven games.
Chunichi officials said the Nagoya club will discuss the future of Linares with the Cuban government, hoping that he will serve as a liaison for its scouting activities involving Cuban players.
Interleague play set
Kyodo News Interleague play, which will be introduced to pro baseball from next season, will be held from early May through mid-June, baseball officials said Friday.
A baseball executive committee decided games between the Central League and Pacific League will be carried out from May 6 to June 16 with each league's team to play six games (home-and-away) each for a total of 36 games.
The CL teams will play each other 22 times, while the PL will only have 20 games due to the Pacific League playoffs which were introduced this past season between the top three teams.
Including interleague games, there will be a total of 146 regular season games in the CL but just 136 games in the PL, excluding the playoffs.