Seibu Lions right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka became the youngest 100 million yen player in Japanese baseball Tuesday when he signed a new one-year deal with the Pacific League club.
In their 90-minute contract talks, Seibu and Matsuzaka agreed to a 30 million yen raise in annual salary to 100 million yen for the next year after the 20-year-old pitcher led the league in wins (14) for the second straight season.
Matsuzaka is only the second player to earn 100 million yen after just two years. Yomiuri Giants outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi reached the milestone after the 1999 season at age 24.
Matsuzaka had a league-high 144 strikeouts in 2000.
Meanwhile, the Daiei Hawks gave catcher Kenji Jojima a 30 million yen raise Tuesday, making him the Pacific League champion's highest earner with an estimated annual salary of 180 million yen.
Jojima, who suffered a two-month layoff after fracturing his right forefinger early in the season, was named to the PL All-Star team for the second straight year after batting .310 with nine home runs.