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Japanese Slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo To Be Posted

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Japan’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars announced today that they intend to make star corner outfielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugo available through the NPB-MLB posting system. Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times was among those to cover the news via Twitter. Once he’s formally posted, which will occur between November 1st and December 5th, Tsutsugo will have thirty days to negotiate a contract with any of the thirty MLB teams. He’ll be represented by the Wasserman Agency, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets.

The 27-year-old left-handed-hitting slugger is a ten-year veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball. Accordingly, he won’t be subject to the restrictions on international signings that limited the earning potential for countrymate Shohei Ohtani and certain other younger and/or less experienced players.

Under the new posting system, which went into effect after Ohtani’s signing, the team that agrees to sign Tsutsugo will also need to pay a release fee that is determined by reference to the contract. Teams pay 20% of guaranteed money up to $25MM, 17.5% for promised cash between $25MM and $50MM, and then 15% of anything beyond. There are also some provisions that allow for additional release fees in the event that certain non-guaranteed earnings are triggered.

Tsutsugo has long been on the MLB radar. He has been among the most effective hitters in Japanese baseball since fully establishing himself at the nation’s highest level in 2014. Since that time, Tsutsugo has devoured NPB pitching. In over four thousand career plate appearances, he’s a .284/.382/.525 hitter with 205 long balls.

This past season wasn’t Tsutsugo’s most dominant, as he provided the BayStars with 557 plate appearances of .272/.388/.511 hitting and launched 29 long balls. That’s a far sight shy of his personal-best 2016 output (.322/.430/.680, 44 home runs) but still plenty productive. Indeed, he was the sixth-best hitter in the NPB by measure of OPS.

There ought to be a fair amount of interest in Tsutsugo among MLB teams, though he’s not generally regarded as a quality fielder and isn’t exceptionally youthful. The most direct market competition will likely come from other left-handed-hitting, power-oriented corner bats such as Corey Dickerson and Kole Calhoun. It remains to be seen whether Tsutsugo will be targeted as a first-division regular, solid platoon candidate, or something in between.

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Comments

  1. Um I’m more curious as to how you would pronounce his name… anybody know?

      • Suit-SUE-go isn’t quit right. The suit part is close enough, but the “SUE” implies accent on that syllable. The Japanese do not accent syllables. All 3 syllables get equal stress on them. @itslonelyatthetrop, has it correct; “SUIT-SUE-GO”.

      • This is incorrect. Note that in your video, an American is saying his name. Japanese syllables can only be pronounced in one way. His name is tsu-tsu-go. Both ‘tsu’ are pronounced exactly the same.

        Pronounce the ‘tsu’ like it’s pronounced in Hideki Matsui. Ma-tsu-i. Tsu-tsu-go.

        3

        • In my 49 years, I never seen the official explanation of name pronunciations for the Japanese language. While I’ve obviously heard it over my lifetime, I had no idea the language does not emphasize syllables as a rule.

          Mind officially blown. Thank you.

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    • Like “Cats” but don’t pronounce “ca” so Ca – “Ts Ts Go”

    • If Yoshitomo Tsutsugo is as good as advertised “Yosh” should suffice. His hitting in Japan has been compared to that of the ‘good’ Bryce Harper.

      • I’m partial to ‘G0-Go’…sorry, pardon my oversight, ‘GO-GO’

    • Please pronounce “Yo-Shi-Tomo Tsu-Tsu-Go”. His nick name has been “Go” because his family name is very rare. He’s very nice guy.

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  2. After years of juiced ball stats, didn’t the NPB deaden the ball a little this year? If memory serves, it would mean his #’s were still excellent.

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    • That would be some kind of irony should he sign in the states and with MLB maintaining their use of the Super Ball in 2020.

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  4. I remember him logging 1bag innings for the majority of the last WBC. Hopefully he can become a regular OF or gain regular playing time between LF/1B/DH

    • Do they need another corner outfielder that will strike out a ton?

      2

  6. Sounds like someone who would make sense for the White Sox

    4

    • The White Sox aren’t too keen on lining other teams’ coffers. The idea of paying ~17% of the contract as a posting fee would chap Jerry’s ass somethin’ fierce.

    • Yoshitomo Tsutsugo can’t play RF. He would have to share LF/DH with Eloy Jimenez or 1B/DH with Jose Abreu and Andrew Vaughn down the road assuming Abreu returns in 2020 which is a pretty safe bet.

      • Then let him share at DH/LF. Vaughn won’t be up next year.

        The team needs to find players who give team a high OBP and power. He has potential to do both.

        2

    • The Indians seem like a better fit since they’re more likely to be competitive than the WSox. The Sox might be able to out-bid the Indians though.

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  9. Bring lots of candies from Japan you’ll need them to blend in in the Minors.

  10. So, the math on a hypothetical 5 year, $100 million deal (round numbers are easier) would be:
    20% of $25 million: $5 million
    17.5% of the next $25 million: $4.375 million
    15% of the next $50 million: $7.5 million

    Total fee to the selling team of just under $17 million. Any idea what this guy will actually make?

  11. He strikeout rate is alarming for that league let alone here. I’m willing to gamble to say they will be worst here.

    • It absolutely would be. Although his OBP is intriguing

    • What alarming strikeout rate are you talking about?
      Aside from his 141 this year, he had rather pedestrian numbers in the previous 3 seasons and compared to most of the swing from the heels players in todays major leagues, he wouldn’t emit any concern what so ever to any GM regarding a propensity for strikeouts….his homers are what every GM will try and rationalize because in todays game, home runs sell tickets and cause jerseys to be purchased.

      • There isn’t a single GM that signs a player because the guy will sell tickets and jerseys lol.

        • You don’t seem to understand a GM job. His job isn’t to win, his job is to make money. A GM will absolutely sign a guy for ticket and merch sales. They do every year. MLB salaries aren’t based solely or even primarily on stats. Once arbitration is over, player contracts are entirely dependant on a teams ability to monetize said contract.

  13. Good numbers for NPB but hard to see them playing so well in MLB.

  14. You’ve got to envision some marketing possibilities if you’re going to pay a fee for a Corey Dickerson look-a-like……and I don’t think this guy is Dice-K or Ichiro or Shoei…..

    The only team I can see with those possibilities (along with both the need and the money available) is the Giants….

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    • When has Corey Dickerson ever hit .322 with 44 home runs?

      • I guess the idea was that Corey Dickerson would hit .322 w/ 44 HRs in the NPB.

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    • Dickerson is 3 years older and now has injury history and on the wrong side of 30.

      This guys is right in the middle of his prime years and there will be teams ready to spend money on him, including the Giants and Mariners. Don’t count out the Red Sox who may trade Mookie and lose JD Martinez.

      A 5 year/$100M deal is pricey but for ages 28-32 also in the ballpark of reality.

  15. I’ve been waiting for the giants to sign a young international player that can be mlb ready. Missed out on Ohtani and Kikuchi the last two years. Please do it!

    • The Angels do have an option on Kole Calhoun and could create a spot in right field.

      But we also need at least 3 starting pitchers and a catcher, so I’d be we are out on this guy.

      • Actually, my comment was meant to infer this guy (and others like him and Otani) should be acquired through a draft process… not just thrown up for grabs and given to the wealthy, non-revenue-sharing major markets.
        …the same major markets who kind of rely on the rest of the markets to make up the league that they profit on.
        An 8-team league of just the major markets would fold like a tent. But they’d fight tooth and nail before letting a 3rd team into LA, NY, or Chicago.
        Yet they insist on an unlevel playing field.

        1

        • League is better this why. Who cares some small team can’t resign their star player to a terrible long term contract. Leagues with salary caps are the absolute worst and it’s not debatable

  17. A 27-year old left-handed slugger with high OBP numbers would be a tonic for what currently ails a White Sox batting order that leans far too right-handed. It’s too bad that LF/3B/1B Yishitomo Tsutsugo has never played a professional game in RF where the White Sox have an opening.

    Clearly the White Sox don’t need a LF with Eloy Jimenez already entrenched there and not proficient enough to play in RF. The White Sox hardly need a 3B either with Yoan Moncada now starring at the hot corner. 1B and DH also look to be set with pending free agent Jose Abreu sure to return in 2020 and beyond along with elite 1B prospect Andrew Vaughn likely ready to debut the following season. The White Sox also have other internal candidates to play those last two positions including Jimenez at some point down the road.

    Everything I’ve read about Tsutsugo including this article (cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-hot-stove-japanese-slug…) suggests he is defensively limited to the LF position as an outfielder so he may not be an ideal fit with the White Sox who may not want to tie up the DH position unless they are comfortable with having Jimenez and Tsutsugo man both positions between them full time beginning in 2020.

    In regards to Tsutsugo ultimately fitting in with the White Sox he might be the “right size but the wrong shape”. lol

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      • Yeah, I honestly think they need to just put Jimenez at DH. He’s too much of a liability in LF. I’m all for bringing in Tsutsugo and plugging him in to LF/DH.

        Looking forward to having Vaughn come up in a year or two for sure, but at some point they need to be filling some of these vacancies with proven veterans. I’m sick of watching a losing team; we can’t just be waiting on unproven prospects for all eternity.

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    • Exactly.

      I wouldn’t hold off on adding talent to hold out hope Jimenez is going to be less of a butcher in the outfield.

      I honestly wish they would have given him reps at 1b down the stretch.

      1

      • It’s not as if it’s Tsutsugo or bust. The White Sox will have other RF options in free agency including Yasiel Puig. They will have even more options via the trade route including my favorite target from the Dodgers: Alex Verdugo!

    • This guy doesn’t impress me at all. Hard pass.

      Let me know if Seiya Suzuki gets posted. Then you’ll have my interest.

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  18. I would shy away here. lots of walks, but no one is going to pitch around him here. might still hit well with the juiced ball, but he does indeed strike out a good bit.

    • He’s been compared to a ‘good’ Bryce Harper in Japan. It may take some time for him to prove that in the states but if he is as good as advertised his bat will definitely play here with managers potentially needing to think twice about pitching to him in certain situations.

      At his age and with his resume, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo might be given the benefit of the doubt with front offices this offseason. Japanese hitters tend to be more disciplined than many other international players and as a league the NPB isn’t exactly ‘chopped liver’ compared to most others.

  21. in the immortal yankess owner..whoever he was he said of his non favorite Japanese player “fat toad” lol

  23. This dude screams Padres. Plugs in perfectly, but honestly not sold on him as an MLB hitter. I feel like Preller is going to want to plug in a proven bat to fill the LH void but there just isn’t anyone inspiring available. It’s basically this dude or Dickerson with both being brutal in the field. I would rather gamble on this guy than sign Dickerson personally, although I imagine Dickerson will come with a cheaper price tag.

  25. can someone tell me who are the upcoming asians players in the next few years?

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