"4 years 10.7 billion? We'll give you more!" Yomiuri scrambles for the best catcher in the league
Nov 20, 2024
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Takuya, the main catcher of the Softbank Hawks and the homeowner of the national team, applied for FA after the end of this season. Guy, a key softbank player and the league's best defensive catcher, began his professional career as a softbank upbringing player in 2010. He was converted to an official player the following year and has been active as the main catcher until now. His solid defense based on his strong opinions called `Kai Cannon' is considered the best in the league.
Guy, the Gold Glove winner in the Pacific League catcher category this season, led his team to a regular-season win. The possibility of staying was high as he was a member of Softbank, but another 'rich club' Yomiuri entered Guy's recruitment.
Yomiuri has catchers such as Takumi Oshiro, Seiji Kobayashi, Yukinori Kishida, and Takuya Kori, but he has been hoping for more reliable growth since the current first-team coach, Shinnosuke Abe. This seems to be why he jumped into recruiting Guy.
Guy already received 210 million yen in annual salary from Softbank this season. It costs more than 1.8 billion won in Korean won. According to Japanese local media reports, the conditions proposed by Softbank, the original club, when announcing the FA were around 1.2 billion yen (about 10.7 billion won) for four years. It is rumored that Yomiuri is preparing a large contract with more than five years of contract guarantee as well as the total amount to catch Guy.
Guy participated in the golf tournament, an event within the club, with his teammates on the 19th and acknowledged negotiations with Yomiuri. Guy was offered favorable conditions in interviews with media, including 'Sports Hochi' I think that what I have done so far is definitely being evaluated. He is making a choice with no regrets (to present both teams). At this point, all negotiations are left to the agent."
Guy is expected to decide his destination soon after meeting in person with Softbank coach Hiroki Kokubo and manager Abe Yomiuri.
youll@sportschosun.com
