The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles announced on Monday the acquisition of veteran Yakult Swallows outfielder Tetsuya Iida.
A seven-time Golden Glove winner, Iida joined Yakult in 1987 and helped the Tokyo club to win five Central League titles and four Japan Series crowns between 1992 and 2001. He has a career batting average of .272 with 230 stolen bases.
The 36-year-old played in only three games in an injury-plagued season this year and has been left out of the picture for the next season by Yakult manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu.