HIROSHIMA – Hiroshima Carp infielder Ryosuke Kikuchi said Friday he is giving up a bid to move to the majors this offseason via the posting system and will remain with the NPB club.
Kikuchi, a seven-time Golden Glove winner, had until 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 2, 2020, to secure a deal with any of the 30 MLB teams after being posted by the Carp earlier this month.
“Given how slow the market is, I decided that if the situation continued it would be better to tell the team early that I will stay,” Kikuchi said during a news conference at Mazda Stadium. “I gave this a lot of thought.”
Hiroshima had indicated it would renew Kikuchi’s contract if he was unable to move to the majors.
The 29-year-old was the Carp’s second-round pick out of university in 2011 and helped Hiroshima win three straight Central League pennants from 2016 to 2018.
He hit 13 home runs with 48 RBIs and batted .261 with 14 stolen bases over 138 games this season.
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times
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