NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo Pref. (Kyodo) The Hanshin Tigers agreed Tuesday to pay Central League MVP Tomoaki Kanemoto an unchanged estimated 260 million yen in annual salary, plus performance-based incentives, for 2006.
For the final year of his four-year contract, Kanemoto got the incentive part he failed to get last offseason, as the 37-year-old slugger had career highs of a .327 average, 40 homers and 125 RBIs in 146 games this past season and led Hanshin to its second league pennant in three years.
"Last year, I didn't have that incentive part since the team finished fourth in the league," Kanemoto said.