Jose Contreras Negotiating with Hawks
Jose Contreras is negotiating with the Softbank Hawks. It seems he would like to have his son attend high school in Japan and eventually participate in the Koshien tournament. He last pitched for the White Sox, struggling with a 5-13 record and a 5.42 ERA in 21 games. Even if Contreras can not hook up with a team, his son can attend high school under an exchange program. You can read about it here: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/34168950/site/21683474
The npbtracker also wrote about it here: http://www.npbtracker.com/2009/11/contreras-son-reportedly-looking-for-move-to-japan/#content but his report had him working out with the Hanshin Tigers. The Tigers were lukewarm to the idea of him pitching for them.
The main issue handicaping his son is that his position is catcher. If you look at the number of foreign signings the Japanese have made at catcher you can count them perhaps on one hand of a Yakuza gangmember that had some fingers amputated. They believe that a catcher should be able to communicate with the pitcher and a catcher who can not speak Japanese would not succeed in that area.