Atsushi Fujimoto gets a 2-year deal with the Yakult Swallows
by Gen on Nov.24, 2009 @ 5:14 pm, under NPB
No big surprise here.
The Swallows announced that they have agreed to terms with Atsushi Fujimoto and will be making an official announcement at some point in the near future.
No other details are known at this time.
Career Stats
| Year | Team | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | TB | RBI | SB | CS | SH | SF | BB | HBP | SO | GIDP | AVG | SLG | OBP | OPS |
| 2001 | Hanshin | 75 | 202 | 186 | 21 | 50 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 66 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 36 | 0 | .269 | .355 | .320 | .675 |
| 2002 | Hanshin | 63 | 162 | 139 | 8 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 23 | 0 | .209 | .259 | .252 | .511 |
| 2003 | Hanshin | 127 | 451 | 402 | 51 | 121 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 151 | 36 | 9 | 4 | 17 | 4 | 26 | 2 | 42 | 9 | .301 | .376 | .343 | .722 |
| 2004 | Hanshin | 111 | 419 | 385 | 45 | 99 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 132 | 33 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 58 | 9 | .257 | .343 | .308 | .650 |
| 2005 | Hanshin | 119 | 400 | 357 | 36 | 89 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 110 | 36 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 40 | 7 | .249 | .308 | .313 | .623 |
| 2006 | Hanshin | 138 | 443 | 393 | 35 | 93 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 116 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 3 | 27 | 1 | 56 | 13 | .237 | .295 | .285 | .583 |
| 2007 | Hanshin | 105 | 164 | 148 | 10 | 36 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 3 | .243 | .284 | .304 | .588 |
| 2008 | Hanshin | 58 | 89 | 76 | 12 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 3 | .250 | .289 | .306 | .603 |
| 2009 | Hanshin | 47 | 70 | 64 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | .219 | .234 | .254 | .488 |
| Totals | 843 | 2400 | 2150 | 224 | 550 | 73 | 17 | 11 | 690 | 181 | 26 | 12 | 76 | 11 | 155 | 8 | 296 | 48 | .256 | .321 | .307 | .629 | |
=== UPDATE 11/26/2009 12:57pm JST
According to Sanspo, the two sides agreed to a 2-year deal worth 100M yen and the uniform number 10. A press conference is supposedly set to take place on the 30th.
=== UPDATE 11/30/2009 8:09pm JST
The Swallows held a press conference on Monday to officially announce Fujimoto.
As mentioned before, he agreed to a 2-year deal worth 100M yen and will be wearing the number 10.
=== UPDATE 12/1/2009 10:40am JST
Fujimoto's salary for the 2010 season will be 36M yen.
=== UPDATE 2:10pm JST
Q&A via Sanspo:
On signing an official contract...
I'm really happy. I'm looking at this as a new challenge for myself. I want to apply everything I've learned up to now.
There are some expectations on you to help lead the club...
Yakult has a lot of young players, so communication will be important. I'll tell them everything I know to help lead the infielders.
You might have a shot at working with 2004 Olympic team mate, Miyamoto...
I really look up to Miaymoto. I'm honored to have a chance to play alongside him.
Your goals for next season...
As long as I'm playing, my goal is to win the league title and become Nippon Series champs. I'm going to really work on my lower half this off-season so that I'll be able to continue playing for at least another 3-4 years.