He held Masahiro Tanaka's 36-year-old hand and even gave him a Christmas present, which is on the verge of retirement. Tanaka vowed to revive next season at a press conference on Monday when he joined the Yomiuri Giants. "I was grateful that Yomiuri offered me an offer. I had no reason to hesitate," he said. "I have to prove it myself. I will try to repay you with the results."메이저사이트

Running out of the Rakuten Eagles, Tanaka couldn't find a new team. Rumors were circulating that the Chunichi Dragons and Yakult Swallows showed interest, both teams turning pessimistic about Tanaka's next season. At the risk of becoming a lost child, Yomiuri appeared like a savior.

His salary stands out. He has a total of 160 million yen (1.48 billion won) including incentives. He has cut 100 million yen from 260 million yen (2.41 billion won) in salary he received from Rakuten this year. The cut is smaller than expected. No matter how legendary Tanaka is, who seeks to win 200 titles in his career between the U.S. and Japan, it is a huge amount of money given his performance in this season. He cannot demand merit in his cumulative contribution.

Tanaka underwent surgery on his right elbow last fall. He sought to recover quickly after the surgery and make it to the opening entry. Due to excessive efforts, he failed to make the first team game until right before the season ended.

He took the mound for the first time in this season against the Orix Buffaloes in late September. I didn't have high expectations, but I got a disastrous result. He allowed four runs in five innings and was replaced. He ended the season with one loss. It is the first time in 18 years that he finished the season without a win since becoming a professional player in 2007.

Rakuten has remained in the B-Class series for two consecutive years (ranking fourth to sixth among the six teams). Coach Toshiaki Imae, who took the helm at age 41, was sacked immediately after the end of his debut season.

For a player whose job is baseball, annual salary is the result of the reason for existence and valuation. No matter how different the reasons are, it ends up as money. Rakuten legend Tanaka broke up with his former team because of his salary.

According to Japanese media, Rakuten offered Tanaka 50 million yen (about 460 million won) in annual salary. The amount has been cut by more than 200 million yen from this year. In Japanese professional baseball, player consent is required when salary is cut above the standard for each amount. Tanaka refused to cut by more than 40 percent. He must have felt that the club did not need him.

Tanaka led Rakuten to its first win in the Japan Series with 24 wins and no losses in 2023, and a monstrous performance. He played in three games of the Japan Series with the Yomiuri Giants and had amazing struggles. He pitched 160 complete pitches in Game 6 and took the mound in relief in Game 7, confirming the victory. As a player who symbolizes the team for a long time, he must have clearly recognized the meaning of an annual salary of 50 million yen.

Tanaka, who commanded the Japanese professional baseball league, pitched for seven seasons with the New York Yankees of the Major League Baseball. He returned to the Rakuten in 2021 after winning 78 games (46 losses) in the Major League. The team treated the ace pitcher with the utmost respect. Tanaka received an annual salary of 900 million yen (about 8.35 billion won) for the second consecutive year between 2021 and 2022. He was the highest paid professional baseball player in Japan.

Poor performance accumulated and salary cuts continued. It fell to 475 million yen (4.4 billion won) in 2023. It fell to 260 million yen (4.4 billion won) in 2024. Over the past four years, it had 20 wins and 33 losses. It only had four wins in 2021, nine wins in 2022, and seven wins in 2023. It had the most losses in two consecutive years between 2022-2023. With three more wins to go until the 200 wins overall in the U.S.-Japan competition, the team is facing a sharp break this season. Prior to Tanaka, Hideo Nomo, Hiroki Kuroda, and Yu Darvish exceeded 200 wins overall in the U.S. and Japan.

The average speed of his fastballs dropped to the early-mid 140 kilometers. He tried to keep up with his experiences and records, but showed his limitations. Tanaka hit 48 home runs between 2021 and 2023. He had a whopping 289 hits last year.

Manager Shinnosuke Abe, who led the recruitment, said he expects double-digit wins. He asked Tomoyuki Sugano (35) who moved to the Baltimore Orioles in the Major League to fill the vacancy. Sugano is the ace who has achieved "15 wins" this season and became the king of multiple wins. We expect Tanaka to play the leading role of pitchers rather than wins. "Young pitchers alone are not enough," Abe said.

Some in Japanese baseball praise Yomiuri for its role as the representative team of Japanese professional baseball. Many baseball players thought that Tanaka, who contributes greatly to Japanese baseball as a whole, should not be allowed to retire because he cannot find his team. The view is that regardless of his current performance, he should be treated with respect. Yomiuri is the first professional team in Japan and the most winning team.

In 2024, which marks the 90th anniversary of its foundation, the Yomiuri Giants won the Central League title for the first time in four years. Unfortunately, the team failed to advance to the Japan Series due to strong winds caused by the Yokohama BayStars. This winter, the Yomiuri Giants are making all-out efforts to strengthen their capabilities to win the title. It has also hired Raidel Martinez (28) and Japanese national team catcher Takuya Guy (32). It has signed a four-year contract with Martinez for 4.8 billion yen and Guy for four-year-2 billion yen. The amount shows his strong will to win the title.

The Yomiuri Giants have not won the Japan Series since 2012. Since then, they have reached the Japan Series three times, but all three have collapsed in the final match.

Tanaka puts down the ace's uniform number "18" and throws it with "11." If he plays in an interleague game with Rakuten, the Japanese pro baseball team will likely be in shock.