NPB Announces 38 Newly Eligible Free Agents for 2026: Shogo Sakakura Among 21 Domestic FA Players, Kensuke Kondo and Kohei Arihara Among 17 International FA Players

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The Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB) officially announced its list of 104 players eligible for free agency in 2026 on October 19.

Of these, 21 players have newly qualified for domestic free agency, while 17 have newly qualified for international free agency. The following is the complete list of newly eligible players.

### Domestic Free Agency

**Hanshin Tigers**
- Seiya Kinami — Infielder
- Takahiro Kumagai — Infielder

**Yomiuri Giants**
- Daiki Masuda — Infielder

**Hiroshima Carp**
- Masato Morishita — Pitcher
- Shogo Sakakura — Catcher
- Hiroki Tokoda — Pitcher

**Tokyo Yakult Swallows**
- Tomoya Hoshi — Pitcher
- Jo Miyamoto — Infielder

**Chunichi Dragons**
- Yasuhiro Yamamoto — Infielder
- Kento Fujishima — Pitcher
- Takuma Kato — Catcher
- Seiji Uebayashi — Outfielder

**Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks**
- Ukyo Shuto — Outfielder

**Orix Buffaloes**
- Yuma Mune — Infielder
- Keita Nakagawa — Infielder
- Daiki Tajima — Pitcher

**Chiba Lotte Marines**
- Kazuya Ojima — Pitcher

**Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles**
- Kenta Maeda — Pitcher
- Hikaru Ota — Catcher
- Hiroto Kobukata — Infielder
- Ren Kajiya — Pitcher

### International Free Agency

**Hanshin Tigers**
- Seishiro Sakamoto — Catcher
- Kento Itohara — Infielder
- Kai Ueda — Infielder
- Suguru Iwasaki — Pitcher
- Torai Fushimi — Catcher

**Yomiuri Giants**
- Yuhei Takanashi — Pitcher
- Takumi Oshiro — Catcher

**Yokohama DeNA BayStars**
- Yota Kyoda — Infielder
- Keita Sano — Outfielder

**Hiroshima Carp**
- Shogo Akiyama — Outfielder

**Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks**
- Kensuke Kondo — Outfielder
- Naoyuki Uwasawa — Pitcher

**Saitama Seibu Lions**
- Kona Takahashi — Pitcher
- Shuta Tonosaki — Infielder

**Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters**
- Kohei Arihara — Pitcher

**Orix Buffaloes**
- Masahiro Nishino — Infielder

**Chiba Lotte Marines**
- Neftali Soto — Infielder

### Key Names for Hiroshima Carp Fans

Three key Hiroshima players—Masato Morishita, Shogo Sakakura and Hiroki Tokoda—have newly qualified for domestic free agency, putting their futures at the center of the club's offseason plans.

Outfielder Shogo Akiyama has newly qualified for international free agency.

The distinction between domestic and international FA eligibility concerns the scope of a player's free agency options under NPB rules.

With the Carp hoping to retain their core players, attention will now turn to whether any of them choose to exercise their free agency rights.