This off season saw an old fan favorite come back to Japan with Kenji Jojima leaving the Seattle Mariners to join the Hanshin Tigers. Jojima was far from happy in Seattle and was only seeing limited playing time. This move seemed logical in that he will once again return to full time starter. What the Hanshin Tigers get in return for their 2 billion yen is a former star of the league who now has played American baseball and brings everything that he learned with him. Both parties are going to benefit from this signing.
Before leaving Japan the first time, Jojima was steadily hitting 30 HRs for the Softbank Hawks. While Softbank did once again make a play for him, it was hard to look past an offer that amounts to over $27 million USD that the Tigers put out on the table. All of this leads us to believe that Japan is sick and tired of seeing some of their best talent jump across the ocean to the United States.
To further support the strength of the league, Yusei Kikuchi has decided to stay in his home country and play in Japan instead of going for the big American baseball contract. This is nothing but good news for Japanese baseball as they will now literally have the changing of the guard. At 33 years old, Jojima cannot have too many years left squatting behind the plate. Hopefully, the years he has left will be reminiscent of his earlier days in Japan.
Something that should not go overlooked is the fact that this veteran will add significant guidance to a pitching staff that obviously struggled last season. As a matter of fact, don t be surprised if he has more of an impact with them than he does at the plate. While it would be nice to see Jojima once again hit 30 home runs, it would be better yet if he could settle this staff down and get them to get some hitters out. His experience and bat may be the difference in getting the team a dozen more wins.
If Hanshin Tiger fans needed a reason to get excited about the 2010 baseball season, this is it. Jojima could have easily ridden out his contract in the States, but he wanted to play and win. Being in his latter playing days, he would not go somewhere to merely play out the string. For a past legend to handpick the Hanshin Tigers as his team is enough of a reason to get to the ticket window and not miss out on one exciting moment of the upcoming 2010 season.
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