Professional baseball, Hanshin catcher, Ryutaro Umeno will remain without exercising the rights of FA = free agent limited to domestic transfers acquired this season.
Umeno acquired FA rights only in Japan this season, and attention was paid to his departure, but according to the announcement of the team, Umeno decided not to exercise his rights and to remain in Hanshin. is.
Umeno is 30 years old.
In 2014, he joined the Hanshin Tigers in 4th place in the draft from Fukuoka University, and has been active since the first year with strong batting and a lead that draws out the strengths of pitchers, and has participated in 130 games this season as well.
In addition, he has been selected as the representative of Japan for the Tokyo Olympics this year due to his strong defense, such as winning the "Golden Glove Award" for the third consecutive year from 2018.
Umeno commented through the team and commented on the reason why he decided to stay. "I was really disappointed that I missed the victory in a little while, and I wanted to win this team. I want to be stronger and pull in the center. "
On top of that, he said, "It took me a while to come up with a conclusion that I thought out on my own, but the voices and thoughts of the fans helped me make the decision. Next year, I will be happy with everyone on the team and the fans. I want to share it. "