Breaking: Chunichi Dragons outfielder Seiji Uebayashi has decided to exercise his domestic free-agent rights, club executive Kensuke Asada told reporters, after informing the team on Nov. 6. Filing closes Nov. 9; NPB posts the official list Nov. 10; talks with every club open Nov. 11 (Chunichi Sports; Nikkan Sports; Sports Hochi).
Uebayashi, 31, is expected to be a Class C free agent — no player or cash compensation if he leaves — after a injury-shortened 2026 (25 games). He revived his career with Chunichi in 2025 (134 games, 17 HR, 27 SB) after SoftBank released him. Chunichi has allowed him to declare and remain; Hanshin is reportedly preparing a roughly ¥400 million / 3-year package and shopping Ojima and Nakagawa as well (Sports Hochi; Baseball Post). Offer figures are media reports, not club confirmations.
Open2ch fan board, post #1 (translated from Japanese)
“FA declarations so far — Hiroshima: Morishita, Sakakura, Tokoda. Seibu: Takahashi (international). Lotte: Ojima. Orix: Mune. Rakuten: Ota (intent?). Chunichi: Uebayashi.”
Open2ch fan board, post #10 (translated from Japanese)
“Three free agents from the same club is brutal. Like rats flushed out by the fumigator.”
Open2ch fan board, post #11 (translated from Japanese)
“Morishita saying he wants a team that can win is basically a reverse pick of SoftBank. There’s only one of those in NPB.”
Open2ch fan board, post #15 (translated from Japanese)
“Tokoda to Orix, Sakakura to Lotte, Morishita to SoftBank looks realistic — honestly that’s rough for Hiroshima.”
Open2ch fan board, post #19 (translated from Japanese)
“Central League free agents lately often jump to the Pacific out of courtesy to their old club. Hard for Yomiuri. Targeting Mune or Ojima makes more sense.”