Seiya Suzuki, who has decided to transfer from professional baseball Hiroshima to the Cubs of the major leagues, held an enrollment meeting at the team's camp and expressed his enthusiasm, "I want to be the best player."
Suzuki has a five-year contract, and his number has been decided to be "27".
It was announced that 27-year-old Suzuki signed a five-year contract with the Cubs on the 18th after negotiating with multiple baseball teams aiming to enter the major leagues using the posting system from Hiroshima.
The U.S. media has reported that it will be a large contract with a total of 85 million dollars for 5 years and 10,115 million yen in Japanese yen, significantly increasing the total of 48 million dollars for 4 years that Kosuke Fukudome signed with the Cubs in 2007. It surpassed and became the highest ever contract for a Japanese player's fielder to transfer to the major leagues.
According to the rules of the posting system, about 1.74 billion yen will be paid to Hiroshima as a transfer.
Suzuki appeared in a brand new uniform with a number "27" at a press conference held at the Cubs camp in Mesa, Arizona on the 18th.
At the press conference, he explained why he decided to sign the Cubs, "The city is wonderful and everything is good. I will live in a different country, so I focused on the family environment the most. You can concentrate on baseball. "
At the beginning of the press conference, he seemed nervous, but when asked about his impression of wearing a uniform, he said, "It's my first time wearing a blue uniform, but it's cool. I'm so happy that I'm here. I met my teammates. I thought I had to train more because my body size was too different, "he said with a smile.
He replied "Mike Trout. I love you" in English as to why he chose "27" as his number, revealing that he was a major league baseball smasher and had the same number as the Angels Trout.
Suzuki's transfer negotiations were suspended for more than three months due to the difficult labor-management negotiations between the Major League Baseball Organization and the Players Association, so the decision on the new world was delayed until this time, which was less than three weeks before the opening.
In the future, as a regular candidate for the outfield, we will make adjustments at a rapid pace toward the opening on the 7th of next month. I'm very excited and maybe more fun. I've been working on it because I wanted to be the best player here. I'm not afraid of my changes because I'm different in speed and physique from Japanese pitchers. I want to respond firmly to this, "he said with enthusiasm.
Suzuki will join the practice of the team immediately after this.