Hawaii Winter Baseball officials will travel to Japan this weekend to visit teams of Nippon Professional Baseball.

League president Hervy Kurisu said the HWB contingent will visit all 12 teams from as north as Sapporo (Nippon Ham Fighters) to south as Fukuoka (SoftBank Hawks).

"We want to thank them for their participation and ask for continued support," Kurisu said. "We will also visit the NPB office and meet with officials there."

Only two teams — Hiroshima Toyo Carp and Yokohama BayStars — did not provide players last season. The league is hopeful they will participate this season.

Hawaii Winter Baseball officials also attended Major League Baseball's winter meetings last month to meet with farm directors of each club. Apparently, the league made a positive impression. The commissioner's office polled the 21 of 30 MLB teams that participated in HWB.

"On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), everyone responded with a 10," Kurisu said. "It was really positive."

The other teams that did not participate showed interest in taking part this season, Kurisu said. In fact, some of the teams that did not have players in the league still sent front office personnel to observe.

"The only concern was the high cost of housing," Kurisu said. "We're working on it. We're trying to see if we can get more home-stay families. Otherwise, (MLB) teams might have to subsidize more."

Although HWB is expecting more teams to send players, the league will maintain the four teams it had this past season: Honolulu Sharks, Waikiki BeachBoys, West Oahu CaneFires and North Shore Honu. But Kurisu said the league is looking into holding some games on Maui and the Big Island. The Maui Stingrays and Hilo Stars enjoyed strong fan bases when they were members of the original HWB.

Last season started Oct. 1, giving players about a month of rest from when their minor league seasons ended. However, HWB is looking at starting several days earlier so the season does not end on the eve of Thanksgiving. A number of players traveled to their homes on Thanksgiving Day. The league also is looking at taking fewer days off earlier in the season. The players had two days off a week most of the season.

SIGNS WITH INDIANS

Veteran minor leaguer Keoni De Renne said he has agreed to terms on a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians.

De Renne, a 1997 'Iolani School graduate, played in the Boston Red Sox organization last season at Triple-A Pawtucket and Double-A Portland. His manager at Portland was West Oahu CaneFires manager Todd Claus. The infielder batted .182 in 10 games at Pawtucket and .224 in 74 games at Portland.

De Renne enters his eighth season of pro ball with his fourth organization. He started out with Atlanta, which drafted him out of Arizona, before being picked up by the New York Yankees in 2003. He then spent two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks before hooking up with Boston last year.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.