It has been decided that Motohiro Shima will join Yakult!
Shima's departure from Rakuten has been attracting attention since he became a free agent.
The acquisition was announced on November 15th, right after the tryouts ended.
Personally, I think this is a very good reinforcement.
Chunichi and other teams were also considered, so would Yakult be a good fit? That's what I thought, but I'm glad I was able to get it safely.
So this time, we have collected various information about Shima!
Shima has a two-year contract with a total annual salary of 50 million yen.
The official contract will not be finalized until December, but the information we currently know is that the annual salary is a two-year contract with a total of 50 million yen.
Regarding the annual salary, is it an initial two-year contract with a total of 50 million yen including single-year incentives, or a two-year contract with a single year of 25 million yen and a total of 50 million yen? There was conflicting information, but it seems like it's the former.
His estimated annual salary for this season during the Rakuten era was 110 million yen, which is quite a bargain.
Shima did not become a free agent due to a significant reduction in his annual salary, but I think Yakult could have given him a little more. I think so, but it seems like there is also a high volume of sales.
By the way, the estimated annual salary for Yakult catcher this season is as follows.
・Nakamura 90 million yen
・Ino 16 million yen
・Nishida 13 million yen
・Matsumoto player 8.5 million yen
・Omura player 6 million yen
・Koga player 5.8 million yen
・Uchiyama player 2.8 million yen
If you look at the annual salary, I feel there is quite a disparity (lol)
He is the second-highest catcher in terms of annual salary, but at 50 million yen, it's like hiring a good coach considering his experience and influence on young catchers.
To be honest, when I look at last year's battery, I can't shake my distrust of Coach Kinugawa, who is continuing to pitch this year.
What is Shima's uniform number with Yakult?
Shima's uniform number on Rakuten has been "37" since he joined the team in 2007.
Speaking of Yakult's uniform number 37, it is worn by McGough, who has worked hard this season.
As of now, Shima's jersey number has not yet been announced.
If I were to imagine, McGough doesn't seem to be too particular about jersey numbers, so I think he'll pass on 37. That's what I think (lol)
“I work in silence without saying a word.”
That's the kind of image McGuff has.
There was an article in Sports Hochi that said the deciding factor in transferring to Yakult was his enthusiasm, so perhaps they should have given him a jersey number.
If I had the utmost respect, it would be Furuta's 27, but that's probably not the case.
According to Wikipedia, it seems that Shima is also following the belief that coach Nomura had, ``It's good to have a uniform number that adds up the ones and tens' to get 10,'' but when it comes to Yakult's vacant numbers, It's only about 91" (lol)
After all, I feel like I'm going to be like, ``Sorry, McGuff!'', which I've thought many times while watching games this season.
If Buchanan leaves, 28 will be vacant.
*Added December 2019
His jersey number has been decided to be 45.
What was the fan reaction to Shima joining the team?
When I look at message boards like Twitter and Chiebukuro, I see a lot of positive views.
The reason is as follows.
・I want them to develop young catchers, including Matsumoto.
・I want Okugawa to develop as a battery.
・ Expectations are high for Japan's No. 1 experience and leadership as president of the players' association
On the contrary, there is almost one negative opinion.
Honestly, personally, I don't have the impression that Shima's shoulders are weak, but when I looked into it, I found out that in 2019, he ended up playing in 57 games due to being deregistered due to back pain twice, but his stealth prevention rate during that time was .075.
He's a player who has quick throws rather than strong shoulders to begin with, but his stealth prevention rate has certainly been decreasing year by year.
Depending on the condition of your lower back, it may not improve.
This season, Nakamura's stealth prevention rate was low in the early stages, which was frustrating to watch, but in the end, it was .314, so there is no doubt that it will be very difficult to have a stealth prevention rate of less than 10%.
This is also a focus point for next season.
It might be a good idea to have a division of labor for catchers like Softbank does.
Another thing to be concerned about is the hitting aspect.
For the past three years, I feel like I've been hovering around 20%.
He was good at hitting right-handed, and Rakuten fans used to call Shima's nagashi-uchi ``Shimanagashi''.
I hope we see a lot of Shima Nagashi at Yakult as well.
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・Yakult Swallows New Players 2020 @ Summary of new foreign helpers, draft rookies, and free agent players
