December 1, 2015
Kunimatsu Nakashima, Tokyo Daily Times

The “juuki” (meaning “invaluable”) designation is a contractual feature allowing teams to sign pending free agents to a one-year contract at last season’s salary. Teams may only designate one juuki per season, and only during the off-season prior to the filing of free agents. A player may be designated juuki only once during his career. The juuki designation is extremely beneficial to the team involved. It typically works against the interests of the player.

18 League of The Rising Sun players have been designated juuki since the inception of this contractual feature in January of 2013. Six juuki were designated for the 2014 season, four for the 2015 season, and eight for the 2016 season.

Two juuki have been foreigners (American Jon Wood and Mexican Pepe Rico).

The smallest juuki contract is $700,000 for Takahiro Yoshida; the largest, $15,268,800 for Jon Wood. The average is $3,854,140.83.

The youngest juuki (at time of contract signing) was Isao Kono (28); the oldest, Shigekazu Takahashi (37). The average age is 32.66.

The least major league service time when designated was 9 years, 16 days for Isao Kono; the most, 17 years, 34 days for Shigekazu Takahashi. The average is 12 years, 55 days.

Neo-Tokyo is the only team to have designated a juuki in each possible seasons. Kuwana is the only team to have never designated a juuki.

Five relievers (two closers), three first basemen, three outfielders (one LF, CF, and RF), two second basemen, two third basemen, one catcher, one starting pitcher, and one shortstop have been designated juuki.

The largest salary increase following a juuki contract was 282.5% (Tokimasa Harada). There was a 97.9% decrease in salary following a juuki contract (Sakutaro Otsuka). The average change in salary in subsequent contracts was an increase of 102.9%.

More details about each juuki follow:

Position/Name: 3B Shigekazu Takahashi
Date Contract Signed: November 12, 2013
Age: 37
ML service time: 17 years, 34 days
Salary: $4,346,500
Team: Hyakujuu
Subsequent Contract: Takahashi signed a 1-year $7,052,800 contract with Fushigi Yugi, representing a 62.3% increase over his juuki salary.

Position/Name: RF Shimpei Adachi
Date Contract Signed: November 12, 2013
Age: 31
ML service time: 11 years, 123 days
Salary: $5,542,000
Team: Edo
Subsequent Contract: Adachi signed a 5-year contract extension worth a total of $62,480,000 with Edo on August 29, 2014. The average salary of $12,496,000 represents a 125.5% increase over his juuki salary.

Position/Name: 1B Sakutaro Otsuka
Date Contract Signed: November 12, 2013
Age: 36
ML service time: 13 years, 132 days
Salary: $2,500,000
Team: Kawaguchi
Subsequent Contract: Otsuka signed a minor league contract on May 19, 2015 with Fushigi Yugi. Otsuka was called up to the majors during 2015 to earn a minimum $52,800 salary, representing a 97.9% decrease from his juuki salary.

Position/Name: 3B Tokimasa Harada
Date Contract Signed: November 18, 2013
Age: 30
ML service time: 10 years, 57 days
Salary: $3,246,500
Team: Fushigi Yugi
Subsequent Contract: Harada signed a 3-year, $37,250,000 contract on February 5, 2015 with the West Virginia Alleghenies of the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance. The average salary of $12,416,667 represented a 282.5% increase over his juuki salary.

Position/Name: SS Naoaki Kichida
Date Contract Signed: November 18, 2013
Age: 30
ML service time: 11 years, 57 days
Salary: $2,000,000
Team: Kure
Subsequent Contract: Kichida signed a 2-year, $9,690,001 contract with Lupin on December 17, 2014. The average salary of $4,845,001 represented a 142.3% increase over his juuki salary.

Position/Name: 1B Takahiro Yoshida
Date Contract Signed: November 18, 2013
Age: 30
ML service time: 10 years, 35 days
Salary: $700,000
Team: Neo-Tokyo
Subsequent Contract: Yoshida remains a free agent since the expiration of his juuki contract.

Position/Name: CL Shiro Shimizu
Date Contract Signed: November 16, 2014
Age: 30
ML service time: 9 years, 46 days
Salary: $1,400,000
Team: Neo-Tokyo
Subsequent Contract: Shimizu remains a free agent since the expiration of his juuki contract.

Position/Name: MR Masamichi Takaki
Date Contract Signed: November 16, 2014
Age: 33
ML service time: 13 years, 56 days
Salary: $880,000
Team: Edo
Subsequent Contract: Takaki remains a free agent since the expiration of his juuki contract.

Position/Name: 2B Jun Sugimoto
Date Contract Signed: November 26, 2014
Age: 35
ML service time: 15 years, 15 days
Salary: $3,000,000
Team: Niihama-shi
Subsequent Contract: Sugimoto remains a free agent since his release on November 24, 2015.

Position/Name: MR Kisho Ageda
Date Contract Signed: December 1, 2014
Age: 33
ML service time: 12 years, 112 days
Salary: $2,152,800
Team: Fushigi Yugi
Subsequent Contract: Ageda remains a free agent since his release on October 27, 2015.

Position/Name: LF Jon Wood
Date Contract Signed: November 24, 2015
Age: 34
ML service time: 15 years, 6 days
Salary: $15,268,800
Team: Seoul
Subsequent Contract: Wood will play as a juuki during the 2016 season.

Position/Name: SP Shunsuke Takayama
Date Contract Signed: November 24, 2015
Age: 34
ML service time: 13 years, 51 days
Salary: $9,000,000
Team: Shin Seiki
Subsequent Contract: Takayama will play as a juuki during the 2016 season.

Position/Name: 2B Isao Kono
Date Contract Signed: November 24, 2015
Age: 28
ML service time: 9 years, 16 days
Salary: $1,500,000
Team: Neo-Tokyo
Subsequent Contract: Kono will play as a juuki during the 2016 season.

Position/Name: CF Katsunosuki Kichida
Date Contract Signed: November 24, 2015
Age: 33
ML service time: 13 years, 52 days
Salary: $2,448,535
Team: Lupin
Subsequent Contract: Kichida will play as a juuki during the 2016 season.

Position/Name: C Tsuneari Horiuchi
Date Contract Signed: November 24, 2015
Age: 32
ML service time: 11 years, 31 days
Salary: $1,479,400
Team: Naha
Subsequent Contract: Horiuchi will play as a juuki during the 2016 season.

Position/Name: MR Katsuhito Maeda
Date Contract Signed: November 24, 2015
Age: 36
ML service time: 11 years, 31 days
Salary: $2,010,000
Team: Kure
Subsequent Contract: Maeda will play as a juuki during the 2016 season.

Position/Name: 1B Michizane Kouki
Date Contract Signed: November 24, 2015
Age: 33
ML service time: 12 years, 52 days
Salary: $5,000,000
Team: Niihama-shi
Subsequent Contract: Kouki will play as a juuki during the 2016 season.

Position/Name: CL Pepe Rico
Date Contract Signed: November 24, 2015
Age: 33
ML service time: 11 years, 82 days
Salary: $6,900,000
Team: Hyakujuu
Subsequent Contract: Rico will play as a juuki during the 2016 season