Sawamura Award-winning pitcher Masahiro Tanaka re-signed with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on Monday for ¥320 million next season, up a whopping ¥120 million from 2011.
Tanaka became the only second player in Japanese baseball history to reach ¥300 million in annual salary at the age of 23. Yu Darvish signed for ¥330 million two years ago, following his second Pacific League MVP-winning season with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
"I haven't been able to respond to the calls of our fans (to win a championship), so my main objective is to really lead our team higher. I will do my utmost throughout the year in the starting rotation," Tanaka said.