Liván Moinelo, the best foreign starting pitcher in last season’s Japanese Professional Baseball League after being a reliever over first of four seasons with the Softbank Hawks, marking a historic milestone for him and for foreign pitchers in the Japanese league.
A few days ago, Cuban journalist Angélica Arce spoke with the left-hander from Pinar del Río about various topics related to Moinelo’s life on and off the field. Without a doubt, one of the topics that fans were interested in the most was the total amount of his contract with the Fukuoka franchise.
The Cuban undoubtedly had one of the best seasons for a foreign starting pitcher in NPB history. Moinelo has 11 wins and five losses last season, with a 1.88 ERA, making him the league champion in that statistical category in the Pacific circuit. In addition to leading in ERA, Moinelo was second in strikeouts with 155, averaging 8.56 batters retired via the strikeout per game. His WHIP was just a miniscule 0.94. In 163 innings on the mound, he has only walked 47 batters, which translates to one walk for every 3.3 strikeouts.
Finally, how much is your contract currently worth?
It came out all over the place that I signed for 26 million for four years, but due to internal club issues, those contracts almost never state there total worth; but usually, it’s a little more. I don’t know why it’s handled this way, but someone who earns five million earns seven; someone earning eight million earns nine; someone earning 10 million earns 12. And you don’t have to pay Cuba any of that money; the tax is levied by the country you signed with. For example, you have to pay 15% for the first three years, then 20%. The club has to give Cuba their percentage, not you.
What happened to Cuba in the Premier 12?
The Premier 12 wasn’t a good performance by us, because in the end, the objective wasn’t met. We lost, but every defeat teaches us a lesson. Cuban baseball needs to start evolving. A number of things need to change, actually quite a few. All these transformations take time. Reality can’t be hidden; Cuba’s performance in the tournament was very bad.Still, people say that I never perform quite as good with the Cuban team as I do with Softbank. That if I was sick, sick or not, I didn’t do well. That can’t be hidden. The illness was an impediment, but there’s no justification.
On the other hand, the season in Japan had been long, and those tournaments are very short: six games in which you must win at least three to advance. If you don’t arrive in the required physical and mental shape, no matter how much quality you have, you won’t perform. You won’t pitch well or perform as you should. Then you start to wonder if you’re in a rut. And it’s not that you’re in rut, but it’s a process that’s already tired you out, the grueling pace of the entire season in the NPB.