The Hiroshima Carp on Friday re-signed outfield slugger Tomoaki Kanemoto for 222 million yen, giving the .300-30-30 player the richest deal in the history of the Central League club.
Kanemoto, who played in every inning of every game this season, batted .315 with 30 homers as well as stealing 30 bases to become the seventh player in Japanese baseball to reach the .300-30-30 level.
He also had 90 RBIs over the 2000 campaign.
The deal for Kanemoto surpasses the 200 million yen contracts given to Kenjiro Nomura and Tomonori Maeda by the Carp last year.
In other developments, Hiroshima gave right-hander Shinji Sasaoka, 10-6 with a 3.97 ERA this past summer, a 10 million yen raise for next season, bringing the 11-year veteran's salary to 170 million yen.
The Carp also reported signing former Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher Erik Schullstrom for next season.
Schullstrom, who posted 15 saves along with nine wins over two years with the Fighters, agreed to a salary of $100,000 for next season with a chance to earn more in performance-hinged bonuses.
Schullstrom, 31, was released by Nippon Ham at the end of the 1999 season and did not play anywhere this past summer.