FUKUOKA (Kyodo) -- Naoyuki Uwasawa's yearlong bid for work in Major League Baseball officially came to an end Wednesday, as the SoftBank Hawks announced they had signed the right-hander to a four-year deal.

Uwasawa, who is 70-62 with a 3.19 ERA in 173 career games in Japan, becomes the second former Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher to join the Hawks after a brief MLB trial following SoftBank's 2023 acquisition of their current ace, Kohei Arihara.

The 30-year-old Uwasawa signed a minor league deal after being posted by the Fighters a year ago. He pitched in two MLB games with the Boston Red Sox.

The Pacific League champion Hawks' pitching rotation has thinned out this winter following the retirement of lefty Tsuyoshi Wada and the departure of free agent right-hander Shuta Ishikawa.