Behind Sho Nakata’s 300 million yen salary, “fresh graduates” Yanagi and Ogasawara angrily withhold contract renewal.
After finishing in last place for the second consecutive season, the first time in the team’s history, Chunichi’s veteran reinforcements have not stopped.
This offseason, the team acquired Hiroyuki Nakajima (formerly of the Giants), Makoto Kamihayashi (formerly of Softbank), and Yasuhiro Yamamoto (formerly of the Hanshin) under control, and Yutaro Itayama (formerly of the Hanshin) as a developmental player. Furthermore, on December 3, Chunichi Sports reported that the acquisition of Sho Nakata, who had been released from the Giants, had been finalized.
Manager Kazuyoshi Tatsunami’s expectations for Nakata are quite high. For that reason, he seems to have prepared a two-year contract for 600 million yen and a number 6. Even so, considering the balance with the other players, we have to say that the number 6 is too high.
On the other hand, the negotiations for the renewal of the contract have been tough for the experienced players: On November 23, pitcher Shinnosuke Ogasawara (26) went to the negotiating table, but became the first player to be put on hold. The team offered an increase from this season’s estimated 66 million yen, but Ogasawara said,
There was no preliminary negotiation, and the amount is the amount of money, so I am not satisfied with putting my stamp on it all at once,” said Ogasawara.
On November 27, Yuya Yanagi (29) was put on hold. The team offered him an increase from his estimated 108 million yen salary for this season, but he said, “I have no complaints about the content of the offer,
I am not complaining about my performance,” he said, adding, “I am not complaining about my performance. I wanted them to evaluate the parts of my pitching that don’t show up in the figures in the evaluation, so I told them that part.
I wanted them to evaluate me in ways that are not expressed in the numbers of the evaluation, so I told them that part. Ogasawara and Yanagi are the two pitchers in the Chunichi lineup to have pitched more than 150 innings this season. Ogasawara reached the prescribed number of innings pitched for the third consecutive year, going 7-12 with a 160.2 innings pitched (4th in the league). He recorded a 3.59 earned-run average. Yanagi, on the other hand, went 4-11 in 158.1 innings (5th in the league) with a 2.44 earned run average (6th in the league).
Looking at wins and losses alone, both pitchers were heavily outscored, but the 390 total runs scored by Chunichi this season was by far the worst among the 12 teams, and they were 45 runs behind the 11th-place Seibu Lions with 435.
I have the impression that he did a good job of persevering and pitching through the year. However, considering his inability to contribute to wins and the team’s situation, it may be difficult to demand an increase in salary. However, when you look at the high treatment of the veteran players who are transferred, you can’t keep quiet about it.
Ogasawara and Yanagi told this magazine about their determination: ……
FRIDAY” has previously conducted an exclusive interview with the two.’ Ogasawara, who became the first pitcher to start the season in his third season in 2006, and who had just won his first complete game in July, said,
Whenever I was told by great seniors such as Kazuki Yoshimi to pitch seven innings, or to pitch a complete game, or to pitch a complete game, I began to feel that I wanted to pitch a complete game. Even if I got hit by a pitch, I started to feel that I should pitch seven innings, and I think I was able to change myself.
I think I changed myself.” He said that he is always conscious of pitching a complete game. When asked about his goals, he replied, “I want to pitch as well as Yoshimi and Matsuzaka,
I just want to do my best to be as close as possible to Yoshimi and Daisuke Matsuzaka,” he said.
He mentioned the names of two great seniors who were with Chunichi at the time.
I interviewed Yanagi in July 2007. Yanagi was in his third year at Chunichi that year, but he had won only three games in two years. That year, however, he had already won nine games. On the reason for his sudden awakening,
There’s no doubt that the pathetic state I was in during my first and second years is the driving force behind what I’m doing now. In hindsight, I’m glad that I didn’t make it halfway through with the naive thinking I had when I joined the team. Now, I am strong, saying, ‘I never want to have that kind of feeling again. I go to the mound with a strong feeling that I will make sure the team wins.
I am determined to go to the mound with a strong feeling that I will make sure the team wins.
Acquiring veteran players is never a bad thing. However, I think the baseball team should show more sincerity to the players who persevered for a year and continued to lead the team. If these two players in particular do not get a satisfactory renewal, I don’t think the fans will be convinced.
The next round of negotiations between the two players will reveal the team’s future attitude toward its “veteran players.
PHOTO.: Haruki Shimokoshi (Sho Nakata), Masahiro Kawayanagi (Shinnosuke Ogasawara), Naoki Hirako (Yuya Yanagi)