Rakuten Eagles: Masahiro Tanaka becomes third player in NPB to reach 300M yen mark in sixth season
by Gen on Dec.26, 2011 @ 3:37 pm, under NPB
Masahiro Tanaka met with the Rakuten Eagles today and agreed to a salary of 320M yen (up 120M yen).
There are only two other players that were paid 300M yen or more during their sixth season in the pros: Koji Uehara (300M yen) and Yu Darvish (330M yen).
UPDATE 12/27 @ 1:50am - Sanspo is carrying the following comments from Tanaka:
Your thoughts on the team's assessment of your performance.
I have nothing more to add, they said they were pleased with everything.
You won a lot of awards this season. Your thoughts.
I am happy that I was able to post career numbers. But I cannot be entirely happy unless the team also does well. As a baseball player, it made me sad to have to watch the Climax Series and Nippon Series on TV.
As a team from an area that suffered from earthquakes and tsunamis, what did you feel during your interactions with earthquake/tsunami victims/survivors?
They provided me with strength. I also do not think we can provide them with strength unless we work harder.
Your thoughts on the 2012 season.
We were not able to come through with the kind of season the fans wanted, so I want to raise the bar next season. Personally, I want to [continue] pitching well in order to maintain my spot in the starting rotation over the course of a year.
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Tanaka's Salary over the years (via Nikkan Sports)
| Year | Salary | W/L, ERA |
| 2007 | 15.0M yen | 11-7, 3.82 |
| 2008 | 60.0M yen | 9-7, 3.49 |
| 2009 | 75.0M yen | 15-6, 2.23 |
| 2010 | 180.0M yen | 11-6, 2.50 |
| 2011 | 200.0M yen | 19-5, 1.27 |
| 2012 | 320.0M yen | ?? |
