Kazuhisa Ishii, who won 143 games as a pitcher in Japan's majors and 39 more in MLB with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, is stepping down as manager of the Pacific League's Rakuten Eagles, a team source said Wednesday.
Under the 50-year-old Ishii, the Eagles finished fourth and out of the postseason this season, the final year of his three-year contract with the Sendai-based club.
Ishii had been the team's general manager from September 2018, while also serving as its field manager in 2021 to 2022.
On Tuesday, the regular season's final day, a 5-0 loss to the Lotte Marines, managed by another former Met, Masato Yoshii, cost Ishii and the Eagles a postseason berth.
