The Chunichi Dragons said Thursday they will not re-sign manager Hiromitsu Ochiai for next season and are going to replace him with Morimichi Takagi.
Chunichi made the announcement at a time when the team is still in the hunt for the Central League title.
The second-place Dragons were 4½ games behind the Yakult Swallows before the two clubs opened a crucial four-game series Thursday. Entering the series, Chunichi had 26 games remaining and Yakult had 25.