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Yakult's Aoki gets hefty pay raise, highest paid Swallow
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TOKYO, Jan. 24 Kyodo
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Yakult Swallows outfielder Norichika Aoki, who won Central
League titles for most hits and stolen bases in 2006, re-signed on
Wednesday for an estimated annual salary of 140 million yen plus
performance escalators -- up 72 million yen from last season.
Aoki surpassed Yakult manager Atsuya Furuta's salary of 120
million yen as a fourth season player.
''Honestly I think it's too good to be true. But I've been
training and it's my goal to improve my numbers from last season,''
said a smiling Aoki, whose new salary is the highest ever paid to a
player in his fourth year with the team.
In his last round of talks, Aoki told the club he would be
interested in using the so-called posting system in the future to
make a move to the major leagues, but the subject was not mentioned
during negotiations this time.
The 25-year-old said, however, the team will be willing to
support him in his dream as long as his stats continue to rise.
''They've told me that they will root for me if I continue to
perform well.''
Last season, Aoki had a league high 192 hits and 41 stolen bases
and led Yakult with a .321 batting average and a .396 on-base
percentage.
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