Veteran slugger Takeshi Yamasaki of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, who won the Pacific League home run and RBI titles, signed a new deal Thursday that will boost his annual salary by more than ¥100 million. Yamasaki will make an estimated ¥192 million in 2008, including a ¥12 million bonus for winning the titles, plus performance incentives as the infielder-designated hitter received a raise from the ¥82.5 million he earned this breakthrough year. "Whether my salary reaches ¥200 million or not was a focal point of the talks but I'm satisfied with the raise I've got because they offered me a deal that is pretty close to it," Yamasaki said. The 39-year-old finished the season with a career-high 43 homers and 108 RBIs.
