Rick van den Hurk officially a Hawk now.

The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks officially announced that Rick van den Hurk has signed a two year contract worth 400,000,000 Yen. The 29-year old Dutch pitcher will wear uniform number 44.

According to Yakyubaka.com Van den Hurk said the following: “I am honored and happy for this opportunity to sign a contract with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and become a member of a team with so much success. The Hawks placed a large amount of trust in me with this contract and for that I am grateful. My goal is to help this team win another championship by playing hard and doing my absolute best. I am excited and looking forward to working toward a 2015 NPB championship together with the manager, coaches, players, staff, and fans.”

Already the strongest team in the NPB in 2014, the Hawks bolstered their rotation with the acquisition of Van den Hurk and Daisuke Matzusaka.

A big thanks goes out to Freek Bouw, who brought this to my attention.