An agreement won't be final until March 7, the report said, and Ramirez has until then to sign with an MLB team.
"It will be a new experience, experience another culture while I keep doing what I love and all I've done in my life, playing baseball," Ramirez told the website.
The 40-year-old Ramirez, 2004 World Series MVP, said his agents had contacted almost every American League team in need of a bat, but received no interest.
Ramirez hasn't played in the major leagues since 2011 with the Tampa Bay Rays, when he retired rather than face a 100-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.
He signed with the Oakland A's last winter, but was released from their Triple-A Sacramento affiliate in June. He has 555 home runs and a .312 batting average in a 19-year career.
