Boston Red Sox bid farewell to Gabe Kapler

[Bluebear]

Former Red Sox outfielder Gabe Kapler has signed a one-year contract to play with the Yomiuri Giants as reported on the Boston Dirt Dogs website earlier today. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the contract was believed to be worth $2 million plus an undisclosed signing bonus according to a report published on several online Japanese news outlets.

"He spent the better part of a week really agonizing over the decision," agent Paul Cohen said Monday. "He really felt at this point in his career, he wanted the guarantee to play."

Kapler said he and his family are excited to go to Japan and he is eager to show his "energetic" playing style according to translated reports from Japanese newspaper websites. The report said that Kapler “has won a world championship in the U.S., now he wants to become a champion in Japan.”

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/11/22/report_kapler_signs_with_japanese_team/