Обсуждение участника:A 'nuclear fist' gunman left Japan on voluntary release in protest of the demotion of the 2nd Division
Slugger Rougned Odor, who voluntarily withdrew from the Yomiuri Giants after being notified of his transfer to the second team, has returned to the U.S. After signing a minor league contract with the New York Yankees, we are again knocking on the Major League.
New York Post reporter John Hayman reported on the 6th (Korea Standard Time) that Odor has agreed to a minor league contract with the Yankees. An opt-out condition was included that allows him to terminate his contract if he does not make the roster by July 1 local time. It is the first return in three years for Odor, who played for the Yankees for a year in 2021.
Odor signed a one-year contract with Yomiuri in January with an annual salary of 200 million yen and headed to the Japanese professional baseball league. He started a new challenge by changing his position from second base to right field, but in the exhibition game, he started 14 consecutive at-bats without hits, and played well with a batting average of 1.76% (6 hits in 34 at-bats) with one walk and nine strikeouts in 12 games, and Yomiuri manager Shinnosuke Abe notified Odor of his move to the second division ahead of the opening game.
Then, Odor strongly protested and asked to leave. The team persuaded him several times, saying, "It's still not what we expected, so please improve your condition in the second team." However, Odor, who had a strong sense of pride, did not give up and left the team.
On the 26th of last month, Yomiuri announced Odor's exit plan, and on the 4th, NPB announced Odor as a free agent and completed the exit process. In two days, he was quickly rehired by a minor contract with the Yankees.
Odor, a right-handed, left-handed pitcher from Venezuela, made his debut with the Texas Rangers in 2014. He played for the Texas Rangers for seven years until 2020, and is familiar to Korean fans as a teammate of Korean outfielder Choo Shin-soo (SSG Landers). He also drew attention with his "hack fist" when cleaning benches representing Major League Baseball.
On May 16, 2016, against the Toronto Blue Jays, Odor, who was outraged by Jose Batista's rough sliding to second base, hit him straight in the face with his right hand. For this reason, he was suspended by the club for eight games, but impressed enough to be talked about whenever the bench-clearing story came up.
Odor's career record in 10 Major League seasons is 1,154 games, batting .230 (930 hits in 4044 at-bats), 178 homers, 568 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.710. There were three 30-homer seasons, 33 in 2016, 30 in 2017, and 30 in 2019, but his accuracy and batting sense gradually declined. After being traded to the Yankees in April 2021, he was released after the season, failing to meet expectations with a batting average of 0.202 (65 hits in 322 at-bats), 15 homers, 39 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.665.
He moved to the Baltimore Orioles in 2022, but he batted 277 (88 for 426) with 13 home runs, 53 RBIs, and a 632 OPS in 135 games. Last year, he wore a San Diego uniform as a minor contract, but failed to rebound with a .233 (28 for 138) four home runs, 18 RBIs, and a .654 OPS in 59 games, and was released during the July season.
He went all the way to Japan due to poor performance but left the Yomiuri Giants ahead of the season's opening, rebelling against his move to the second division. Odor, who stayed in Japan less than two months ago, found his team relatively quickly in the U.S. After moving from the Yomiuri Giants to the Yankees, he is a prestigious baseball team that bans growing beard. After shaving his beard after visiting the Yomiuri Giants, Odor is waiting for a call-up to the Minor League.