Closer Seung-hwan Oh joined the Tigers before the 2014 season with an agreement to play two years, but the contract for that second year was not signed until yesterday. Now that he is officially back, the Tigers will start next year with the exact same four foreigners (the limit for active rosters in Nippon Professional Baseball) as they had last season.
Said the Korean stopper: “It was great to play for an excellent organization like the Tigers this year. But I regret not being able to win it all at the end. Next year I’m going to do my best to be one of the team’s core players, and contribute to us winning it all.”
Of course we wish you all the best in 2015, Mr. Oh! Thanks for a great 2014! Let’s get the title in 2015!
In other news, the team is still trying really hard to sign free agent ace pitcher Chihiro Kaneko. The (former?) Orix Buffalo was the recipient of the Eiji Sawamura Award in 2014 and has expressed interest in being posted (i.e. going to the major leagues) in the near future. The Tigers are among 5 teams (none of these are the Giants) reportedly interested in the 31-year old.