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Sunday February 25, 6:15 PMBaseball: Nakamura, Chunichi sign non-roster contract(Kyodo) _ Norihiro Nakamura, once one of the highest-paid players in Japanese baseball, signed with the Chunichi Dragons for an annual salary of 4 million yen and will wear the No. 205 uniform.The 33-year-old third baseman can play only in farm league games under a so-called player development contract, but still has a chance to make top team appearances if he wins a spot on the 70-man roster until the end of June. The Orix Buffaloes released Nakamura last month since he refused to accept a 60 percent pay cut in a series of offseason talks. No clubs had offered contracts after that. "It's not about money. I just want to play baseball," Nakamura said after his recent tryout performances led to the signing in Okinawa Prefecture. "I'll come up with results in farm games to join the roster." Nakamura led the Pacific League with 39 homers and 110 RBIs in 2000 and 132 RBIs in 2001. His estimated salary was 500 million yen each in 2003 and 2004. Nakamura signed a one-year minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 2005 season and ended up appearing in only 17 games in the majors. He returned to Japan in 2006, but struggled with a wrist injury and batted .232 with 12 homers and 45 RBIs in 85 games. |
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