In the Japan professional baseball, only the player of declaring free agency becames the free agent and can negotiate with other teams. In this year, 6 players declared free agency. They could negotiate from November 11, so some players got a meeting. The negotiation deadline is until November 30.
Yoshio Itoi of the Orix Buffaloes negotiated with the Hanshin Tigers. Tomoaki Kanemoto of the Tigers’s manager also joined the negotiation, he told Itoi that you are a lover. The tigers presented the contract of 4 years and 1.6 billion yen total to Itoi. Itoi is the right fielder, so if he transfers to the Tigers, Kosuke Fukudome of the same defensive position will turn to the first baseman. There is no other team that scheduled to negotiate with Itoi now, Itoi considers transferring to the Tigers or Remaining in the Buffaloes.
Masahiko Morifuku of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks negotiated with the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. The Japanese player often was not represented by an agent, Morifuku attended negotiations with his agent. In 2016 season, he played as a reliever and his stats was 2.00 ERA in 50 games. Yoshinobu Takahashi of the Giants’s manager didn’t join the negotiation, but Takahashi called Morifuku and encouraged him to transfer. The Giants presented the contract of 2 years and 300 million yen total to Morifuku. Masahiko Morifuku is also a sidearm pitcher and a left‐handed so there will be other teams that want to negotiate with him.
The Giants also negotiated with Shun Yamaguchi of the Yokohama DeNA Baystars. Because the Giants was the second place 2 years in a row, so they wants to reinforce the pitcher. Sun Yamaguchi is a starting pitcher, and his stats was 11 wins and 2,86 ERA in 19 games. Takahashi of the Giants’s manager also didn’t join the negotiation, but Takahashi called Yamaguchi and encouraged him to transfer. The Giants presented the contract of 3 years and 600 million yen total to Yamagichi. The Chunichi Dragons also consider his acquisition so the negotiation will be held soon.
Takayuki Kishi of the Saitama Seibu Lions negotiated with the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles. He was born at Miyagi that is the home town of the Eagles, so the Eagles wanted him. Senichi Hoshino of the former Eagles’s manager who is the ｖvice president of the Eagles also joined the negotiation, he persuaded to join the Eagles. Kishi is a starting pitcher, and his total stats was 103 wins in 10 years. The Eagles presented the contract of 4 years and 2 billion yen total to Kishi. Takayuki Kishi is the starting rotation and a proven player. But the contract presented by the Eagles is high so he will transfer to the Eagles.
Daikan Yoh (Dai-kang Yang) of the Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters didn’t negotiate with any teams. But the Buffaloes and the Eagles consider his acquisition so the negotiation will be held soon.
Only Takumi Kuriyama of the Lions signed again with the Lions. This is an unusual case that the player of declaring free agency signed again with the same team. But because Takumi Kuriyama was a captain of the Lions, so he showed loyalty to the team. His salary was unkown.
In the Japan professional baseball, the player negotiates directly with the team executives and holds a press conference after negotiations. This is a sight that can not be seen in the Major League Baseball. This youtube’s video is the news of Morifuku’s negotiation.
