Seibu Lions hard-throwing right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka re-signed with the Pacific League club on Thursday for an annual salary of 200 million yen -- a whopping 85 million yen pay raise.
Matsuzaka becomes the third pro baseball player to reach the lucrative salary in his sixth year following Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (then Orix BlueWave) and New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui (then Yomiuri Giants), who were paid 260 million yen and 200 million yen, respectively.
Matsuzaka, 23, matched a career high with 16 wins, including 10 consecutive, against seven losses in 29 mound appearances and won titles for best ERA (2.83) and most number of strikeouts (215).
"I was able to sign the contract with confidence after they told me I did a good job filling in for (Takashi) Ishii and (Fumiya) Nishiguchi. I'm really happy," said Matsuzaka, adding that he will aim to help Seibu capture the league championship and try to claim the title for winning percentage in 2004.