Slugger Takahiro Arai has agreed to join the Hanshin Tigers after the free agent held a second round of negotiations in Fukuoka with the Central League club Wednesday.
"I really felt (The Tigers') enthusiasm come across and I told them I would give my utmost. I am excited just at the thought of playing at Koshien (Stadium)," Arai, 30, told a press conference.
"(Arai's) addition is a major boost," said Hanshin club president Nobuo Minami. "He is at a ripe age and will do a good job as a cleanup hitter."
Arai, who recently filed for free agency after playing nine seasons for the Hiroshima Carp, had shown a positive reaction to a four-year, ¥1 billion offer made during the first round of negotiations in Miyazaki last Thursday.
Hanshin will formally announce the deal after Arai returns from Japan's Asian qualifying tournament for next year's Beijing Olympic Games in Taiwan.
Arai joined Hiroshima in 1999 from Hiroshima Kogyo high school as a sixth-round draft pick. He occupied the cleanup spot of the Hiroshima lineup, while driving in 100 runs or more the last two seasons.