Former Seibu Lions skipper Tsutomu Ito is set to take over from Norifumi Nishimura as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines, baseball sources said Thursday.
The sources said Lotte has decided to offer the job to Ito after the Marines announced Monday that Nishimura was stepping down.
Ito this season signed a two-year contract as head coach with the South Korean club Doosan Bears, but that is not expected to present an obstacle in Lotte offering him the job.