Is it a signal to renew his contract with Yusei Kikuchi (33).
The home stadium of Houston in the Major League Baseball will be called “Dykin Park” starting in 2025. “We have signed a sponsorship contract with the North American branch of the Dykin Group regarding the naming of the stadium,” the Houston team said on Wednesday. “It will take effect on January 1 next year and will cooperate with each other for 15 years until 2039.
The Houston home stadium, which opened in 2000 under the name Enron Field, was briefly called the Astros Field when Enron Energy went bankrupt in 2001. It signed with Coca-Cola in 2002 and has used the name of the stadium until this year. Minute Maid is the brand name of Coca-Cola’s juice.
Founded in 1924 in Japan, Daikin is a company specializing in air conditioning systems. It develops, manufactures, and sells heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigerating equipment in this category.
The Houston club said, “Daikin has about 98,000 employees worldwide, 10,000 of whom are in Houston, Texas.” Japan’s Kyodo News reported the significance of the contract, saying, “Daikin is the first Japanese company to win the right to name a major league stadium.”
In addition, it is interpreted that Houston is a signal to catch Kikuchi, who was released as a free agent (FA) after receiving a Japanese company’s sponsor.
Sports Hochi said on the same day, “Houston, which has more money to spare by signing a sponsorship contract with Daikin, is likely to have more power to renew the contract with Japanese Kikuchi.”
Kikuchi moved to Houston at the trade deadline at the end of July. The trade was a huge success. After the transfer, Kikuchi started 10 games and recorded 5 wins and 1 loss with a 2.70 ERA, helping Houston make a great leap forward in the second half of the year to win the district championship.
Kikuchi, who became an 토토사이트 after the season, is very popular in the market. Scott Boras, the agent, said at a general managerial meeting in San Antonio early this month, “I had a conversation with Houston and I already made an offer. We are still having conversations. Some clubs have also made an offer. I can’t tell you the number, but they are many teams.” The Japanese media Full Count recently reported that Kikuchi is gaining huge popularity in the FA market. With the surging popularity of Kikuchi, six teams including the Los Angeles Dodgers are competing with each other.
Houston, which clearly experienced the utility of Kikuchi this season, is expected to take an active role. A contract to sponsor the naming rights of the team with a Japanese company is likely to signal the recruitment of Kikuchi.