Haruki Nishikawa, who aimed to transfer to the major leagues but did not reach a contract and decided to remain in professional baseball and Nippon-Ham, renewed the contract for an estimated 40 million yen increase to 240 million yen.
Nishikawa has a batting average of 30% and 6% last season, and is the main player of the team that has won the Golden Glove Award for four consecutive years until last year, in addition to three stealing kings.
In this off, I aimed to transfer to the major leagues using the posting system, but I did not reach a contract and decided to stay at Nippon Ham.
Nishikawa negotiated a contract with the team on the 21st, and signed a one-year contract for 240 million yen, an estimated increase of 40 million yen.
At the press conference, Nishikawa said, "Even though I didn't have a contract in the United States, I was evaluated and my annual salary was increased. I'm just grateful to the team for evaluating the players who shouldn't have. I have to make good grades for a year. "
On the other hand, he said that he couldn't make the big league transfer that he had dreamed of. "I realized that it was not easy to go to the United States, and I realized that I wasn't strong enough. "I was keenly aware of various things," he said. "I thought I'd organized my feelings, but I wasn't able to switch well," he said in a frank way about playing while remaining in Nippon Ham.
Nishikawa is expected to acquire the rights of FA = free agent including overseas during this season, and can aim for a major league transfer again, but "I am not thinking about next year, so if I can find it from now on I was talking.