The Rangers have officially agreed to a deal with free agent reliever Kyuji Fujikawa, as T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com first reported on Twitter. Fujikawa, a client of the Wasserman Media Group, gets a one year deal that includes a club option, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets.
The contract has a $1MM base salary plus incentives, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link). The club option is for $2MM and comes with a $100K buyout, bringing the total guarantee to $1.1MM, Heyman adds (via Twitter). That option could rise to as much as $3.5MM if Fujikawa meets certain games-finished thresholds.
Fujikawa, a 34-year-old righty, came to the United States by way of the Cubs. He has thrown only 25 innings over the past two seasons, with two stints sandwiched around a Tommy John procedure and rehab. Though he carries only a 5.04 ERA at the big league level, Fujikawa has shown he can miss major league bats. He has averaged 11.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.
Chicago declined a $5.5MM option over Fujikawa at the start of the offseason. Fujikawa was an ace reliever in Japan, where he accumulated a 1.77 ERA over 12 seasons while posting 11.9 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9.
