NAGOYA (Kyodo) Chunichi Dragons infielders Masahiro Araki and Masahiko Morino both signed five-year contracts with the Central League club on Wednesday.
Araki will earn an annual salary of ¥150 million in 2009, up 15 million yen from this year, in his first year under the new deal, while Morino accepted a ¥10 million salary decrease to ¥120 million.
Under the contracts, which also include performance incentives, their salaries will vary from the second year.
Both players, along with fellow infielder Hirokazu Ibata, obtained the right to free agency during the 2008 season but opted to sign multiyear deals with the Dragons without exercising it.