Rakuten Eagles pitcher Kenta Maeda, who previously played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and other teams in Major League Baseball, held a press conference at Rakuten Mobile Park in Sendai on the 16th to announce his signing, vowing to dedicate his career to Rakuten Eagles. "I am prepared to end my playing career with Rakuten Eagles. I didn't choose this team half-heartedly. I joined because I wanted to play for this team, thinking of it as the last team of my career," he declared.

It has been decided that he will inherit the number 18 worn by pitcher Masahiro Tanaka of The Giants, who is of the same generation. "It's the number I grew up with, and it's the number I've always worn both in Japan and the United States. It's a number I'm very attached to," he said.

The main questions and answers from the press conference are as follows:

-Returning to Japanese baseball after a long time.

"I'm really looking forward to it. I'm really looking forward to playing in Japan for the first time in a while, and I'm feeling really excited."

-About number 18.

As for number, this is what worried me the most after I decided to join The Eagles. I spent a lot of time discussing with the team whether I should wear the number 18, and I think that the fans have the image of Masahiro Tanaka when it comes to the number 18 of the The Eagles, and I think the team is also strong, so I thought that I shouldn't wear that number myself, and I myself am a professional baseball Number 18 is a very important number in my life, but I was worried about whether I could wear it here, but I have a lot of respect for Masahiro Tanaka, and I am very honored to be able to wear number 18 on this team because I am aiming for it, or rather, I have been chasing my back for a long time. I think that some fans may have a slightly negative opinion or feelings about me wearing the number 18, but even if it's not right now, I myself will wear the number 18 and work on the baseball, or I will fight with all my might for the win to the team ground I wanted to do my best to be recognized as much as possible, so I wore number 18."

-Have you contacted pitcher Tanaka?

"I contacted him. I don't know if I should say this, but I was told yesterday that it would be number 18, so I called him quickly and said, 'We've decided to wear number 18,' and asked if it was okay to wear it, and he replied, 'Of course, sure, that's fine.'"

-What is your impression of Rakuten Eagles?

"I think they've been standings fourth for the past few years, but they have pitcher fielder, and some really good young players, so I think they're a team with a lot of potential, and I think they're a team that can aim to win, so I'm really happy to be a part of that team."

-What are your thoughts on reaching 200 wins in Japan and the US?

"It's still a little far away, so it's not a number that I can achieve next year or anything like that, so I want to keep building on it one step at a time. However, at my age, it's difficult to have numerical goals, but 200 wins is a number that motivates me, so I want to work hard and aim for that."

- Which Pacific League player would you like to play against?

"It's difficult, I'd love to play against my classmates, whether Central League or Pacific League, but in Pacific League there's Kiyomiya (Nippon-Ham) and Nakagawa (Orix Buffaloes), who is my junior at PL Gakuen. I played against Kiyomiya on a TV program when he was in elementary school, and we talked about how we would play against each other if we ever became professional baseball players, so I think there will be an opportunity for us to play against each other from next year if he actually becomes a professional baseball player, and I'd be a little happy to think that those words will come true, and Nakagawa is the only junior left at PL Gakuen, so in that sense I'd like to see the two of them play against each other."

-To Rakuten Eagles fans.

"Above all, I want to show everyone a great pitching performance, and I want to take mound for the team's win and lead every game I pitch to win, so I hope many people will come to the stadium, and I especially want to become the kind of pitcher that makes people think, 'I want to go to the stadium to watch Kenta Maeda pitch.'"

-What are your goals and aspirations?

"My goal is to become number one in Japan. That's all I can think of, and since we've been in fourth place recently, I'm sure there are fans and players who are thinking that we need to somehow make it to the Climax Series, but I believe we can win and become number one in Japan, so my only goal is to become number one in Japan."

◆ Kenta Maeda: Born April 11, 1988, in Osaka Prefecture. Age 37. Played in Koshien in his first year (summer) and third year (spring) while attending PL Gakuen High School. Drafted in the first round of the 2006 high school draft by the Hiroshima Carp. Moved to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2015 offseason and played in MLB until this season. Represented Japan in the 2013 WBC and the 2015 Premier12. Awards include two Sawamura Awards, two win titles, three ERA, two strike out titles, three Best Nine selections, and five Golden Glove Awards. 185 cm, 84 kg. Right-handed pitcher, right-handed batter.