change as required by the working agreement. After failing to reach a contract agreement with the Carp, Soriano declared his retirement as Nomo had three years before. This decision resulted in the Carp management suing Nomura for $100,000 in damages as well as threatening legal action against any MLB ball club that negotiated with Soriano. However, MLB eventually ruled that Soriano could be classified as a free agent. The Carp gave up pursuing legal action, and the suit with Nomura was later settled. Soriano signed with the New York Yankees for $3.1 million over four years, a vast improvement over the $40,000 a year he was offered from the Carp. The incidents with Nomo, Irabu, and Soriano motivated NPB and MLB to abolish the working agreement and replace it with the current posting system. This led to a wave of star players leaving NPB during their prime to play in the United States, in addition to the dozens of players who moved to the US after becoming free agents. Personal life Nomura's half brother is former NPB player and current Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles coach Katsunori Nomura. His niece is Saya Nomura, an employee with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim References Sources 1957 births Living people Japanese people of American-Jewish descent Japanese baseball players Yakult Swallows players Sports agents