| Shohei Otani has signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels. © AFP=News1 |
Shohei Otani, 27, a Japanese major leaguer who also works as a tuta, has signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
MLB.com announced on the 9th (Korean time) that “Otani and the Angels team signed a contract for $8.5 million over two years.”
Otani debuted in the major leagues in 2018, and this is the first time he is eligible to apply for a salary adjustment.
The difference between Otani and the club was large. Otani offered $3.3 million and the club offered $2.5 million, widening the gap of $800,000. As a result, it has come to the point of submitting an application for annual salary adjustment.
However, the club came to an agreement by suggesting a two-year contract at the end of the negotiations. Otani is expected to receive $3 million this year and $5.5 million by 2022.
After the 2017 season, Otani, who transferred to the Angels for a down payment of $2315,000 through posting, signed a minor league contract. Otani, who was 23 at the time, had no choice but to sign a minor league contract in accordance with the rules of the major league’s “overseas player contracts under the age of 25”.
Otani, who had to receive the lowest salary level even if he was promoted to the major leagues, received the lowest annual salary in the major leagues of $545,000 in 2018.
Despite the lowest salary, Otani won the American League rookie of the year with an average ERA of 3.31 with a pitcher of 4-2 and a batting average of 22 homers and 61 RBIs as a batter in the debut season. However, the upward trend did not continue.
Otani was sluggish in 2019 after elbow surgery in October 2018, and last year he hit only 0.190, 7 homers, and 24 RBIs in 44 games as a batter. Even as a pitcher, it did not meet expectations with an ERA of 37.80 per loss without a win.
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