Despite the team's anti-free agent policy, the Carp was facing serious problems with its weak pitching staff, which had kept them in the bottom half of the standings since 1997. The prospect of losing Kuroda, by far the most effective and consistent pitcher on the team, forced them into negotiations. On October 15, 2006, the team offered a 4-year, 1 billion yen deal with post-retirement benefits, showing that they were absolutely intent on retaining Kuroda. In terms of base salary, Kuroda had been paid 200 million yen in 2006, and this contract would only give a 50 million yen increase for 2007, with no further increases over the next three years. However, this was a major step-up for the Carp management considering that only two other players on the team (Tomonori Maeda and Tomoaki Kanemoto) had ever been paid more than 200 million yen per year. On November 6, 2006, Kuroda agreed to a 4-year 1.2 billion yen deal (250 million yen base salary+bonuses) to remain in Hiroshima. This new contract included a provision that Kuroda would be able to negotiate with major league teams as a free agent at any point during the 4-year deal. At the same time, Kuroda announced that he would play for no other Japanese teams besides the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Although the deal ultimately concluded with a salary increase, Kuroda's negotiations showed a rare instance where free agency did not inflate salaries to ridiculous amounts.