14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, 16 January 2025 — Almost a month after Cuban pitcher Raidel Martínez signed a historic contract with the Japanese Professional Baseball League (NPB), his new team, the Yomiuri Giants, will include him in the so-called Group S, a selection of the most important players on the squad, who get to decide their own training regimen.
The decision, reported this Wednesday by the official newspaper Jit, means that the players who make up the group will be responsible for their own practices and will decide what kinds of exercises they will do to get in shape, without planning by the club’s management.
“Normally, in the demanding world of Japanese baseball, both the team’s director and coaches determine the players’ work schedule during practice, including the exercises they do,” the media outlet explained.
This initiative, according to the newspaper report, “reveals enormous confidence and respect for the club’s most veteran players, a space that Raidel has earned on his own merit.” For the outlet Swing Completo (Full Swing), it is also “a recognition of the awards that the closer achieved and his quality in the box.”
This initiative, according to the newspaper report, “reveals enormous confidence and respect for the club’s most veteran players
Martínez is one of the best closers in the Japanese league. In his last season with the Chunichi Dragons he had a dream campaign. He set a personal record of 43 saved games, which was also the best mark in the entire league. He competed in a total of 60 games, in which he completed 58.0 innings while allowing only seven earned runs, for an ERA of 1.09. The Pinar del Río native also had 59 strikeouts, gave up 12 walks, and had a WHIP of 0.81. Finally, he allowed only 35 hits, including one home run.
All total, in seven seasons with his former team, he recorded 166 saves, with an ERA of 1.71, in addition to 353 strikeouts in 310.2 innings pitched.
In seven seasons with his former team, he recorded 166 saves, with an ERA of 1.71
The new contract that the closer signed with the Yomiuri Giants for 32.5 million dollars for four seasons is also one of the most lucrative for the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB), which will pocket 20% of the amount, some 6.5 million dollars, more than 1.6 million dollars per season.
Although Raidel Martínez’s contract is “a historic agreement,” according to journalist Francys Romero, as it surpassed the $26 million received by Mexican Roberto Osuna or Cuban Liván Moinelo, the expert opines that the closer from Pinar del Río “would have obtained offers of between $50 and $70 million if he had entered the Major League market” in the United States.
In addition to Martínez and Moinelo, other Cubans with deals in the Japanese league are Carlos Monier, Frank Abel Álvarez, Cristian Rodríguez, Darío Sarduy and Ariel Martínez. There are also two other players with such contracts in Mexico, six in Italy, and four more in Canada.
Translated by Tomás A.
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.