The Rays announced Tuesday that they’ve designated struggling first baseman/outfielder Yoshi Tsutsugo for assignment. He’s in the second season of a two-year, $12MM contract that represented a relatively sizable investment for the cost-conscious Rays. They’ll now have a week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him. Corner infielder Kevin Padlo is up from Triple-A Durham in his place.
Tsutsugo, 29, was a prominent slugger with the Yokohama DeNa BayStars in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, batting .285/.382/.528 in parts of 10 seasons — including a .293/.402/.574 slash with 139 home runs in the four years leading up to his free agency.
He struggled in 2020 with the Rays but at least showed off some of that power, slugging eight long balls, five doubles and a triple in 185 trips to the plate last summer. That power has completely evaporated in 2021, however, as Tsutsugo has just four doubles and no home runs through his first 87 plate appearances.
Overall, Tsutsugo has come to the plate 272 times as a member of the Rays and managed only a .187/.292/.336 batting line with a 28.3 percent strikeout rate. To his credit, he’s walked at a hearty 12.5 percent clip, but that keen eye hasn’t helped him to tap into the obvious power that helped make him a star in Japan. With Ji-Man Choi nearing a return from the injured list and Tsutsugo’s struggles persisting, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times wrote yesterday that a touch decision on Tsutsugo seemed virtually “inevitable.”
It’s unlikely that the Rays will find a taker for Tsutsugo’s salary — he’s still owed $5.46MM through season’s end — though they could always try to orchestrate some kind of swap involving another bad contract. Such deals are tough to put together in a short window during the season, making it likelier that he’ll be placed on waivers or simply released.
You expect an out when Yoshi comes to bat.
And that out is usually a strikeout on a high fastball or a foot outside.
SF. Bench is short right now with La Stella/Solano/Dickerson on the shelf, he could spell Longoria on certain days.
Orioles please
Only if they send Chris Davis in return. (Joke)
Good opportunity perhaps to grab a decent prospect from the Rays. Let’s not forget the O’s have a LOT of money.
I can see SF too. They have a lot of money too, and have shown they’re willing to dust it off.
Of course the Tigers are in the same boat, but they’re building for 2035.
You think the Rays would give up a prospect to avoid paying $5.5 million? Or did I miss something?
If he were to be traded, there will be no prospects going back and forth, anywhere.
Yes I think they would give a prospect to save 5M…..
I also think that the Rays would give up a prospect to save 5 million. Have you not noticed how they trim payroll? They also have a ton of middle infielders and MI prospects.
I’m not saying it will happen—but it COULD happen.
What would be super interesting is if they traded Tsutsogo with Adames somewhere. Adames has struggled a lot but he has a strong prospect pedigree and he obviously has pop.
They do that and then they call up Brujan or Franco to play 2B or SS. That’d be a real site.
Adames is also arb=eligible after this year, and tho neither Brujan nor Wonder Wander is much of a SS, they have Walls (excellent glove) waiting in the wings. Just a bucket full of legit prospects in that organization.
Willie’s never been much of a quick-twitch guy, and obviously playing on the carpet helps him. But he’s still better than a lot of the SS out there. I can see a combo package being intriguing for some teams.
Can’t talk about SS without mentioning ya boy Galvis’ bunt last night; I was peeking in on the game when he dropped it. Darn near fell of my chair…..
Pretty good player that Galvis. Got his warts, but for 1.5M (I think). heck of a pickup.
No, they wouldn’t. He has not been performing up to the Rays expectations & with Choi soon to be off of the IL, there is no space for him. He had a tough hill to climb just coming over here from Japan & trying to learn American bb. The Rays, with their limited budget, don’t have the luxury of keeping around dead weight.
Certainly was a great pickup. Just like Jose Iglesias the year prior. The only mistake Elias made was not giving Galvis the 2nd year he gave Jose.
Galvis will be playing for a contender in July, for sure. My bet is Oakland at this point. I could see him or Iglesias back in Baltimore next year in FA. There’s no SS ready for the O’s.
Japanese players available. Maybe flip with Mariners and see what happens?
Good.
It’s less of a credit to Tsutsugo and more of an indictment of all the pitchers in the league that a guy who can’t hit a fastball if his life depended on it walks that much.
Yoshis island for the SNES is a top 5 video game (unrelated, just feeling nostalgic.) But, Yoshi tsutsugos’ island is Japan.
Yoshi Tsutsugo’s career in MLB so far is much more like Yoshi’s Story for N64 – a disappointment.. I still wish him well.
What’d you guys think of the Mortal Kombat flick? I dug it…
@bigtuna
I liked it a lot actually! It was pretty solid, I give it a 7.5/10!
@adachi
I actually really liked Yoshi Story! 🙁 it was a Birthday present from my South African Grandfather. I ‘ll always remember the “be careful” song when you beat a map. “And the page turned and the Yoshis’ grew happier.”
I was a big fan of both puzzle games Yoshi and Yoshi’s Cookie for NES, but I agree that Yoshi’s Island was much better.
@hiflew
I was actually playing Yoshis cookie the other day! My wife likes to laugh at me when I get into my classic games that I played growing up lol! She likes the puzzle games though and is better then me at Dr. Mario. (Pretty much the same as Yoshis’ cookie.)
Tsutsu-go to waivers
I wouldnt mind the Mets picking him up, good bench piece
Anyone on this thread claiming he would be a nice addition to their team…just stop. He is not good, he cannot hit a good fastball, and he is defensively challenged. You’d be better off w Todd Frazier.
I actually love the guy, but he is not an MLB caliber player. Move on.
So the Rays made an error? We were told that didn’t happen.
Luckily for Rays fans they do make way less mistakes then their AL east competition or seems that way over the last 15 years or so!
What if my team is the Rakuten Monkeys? He’d be a great addition.
That’s what many said about Max Muncy. That’s what a lot of teams thought about Matt Duffy. Dodgers and Cubs are happy they didnt listen. Maybe a change of scenery will help him out.
Tsutsugo to Pittsburgh for Polanco. The battle of which outfielder is a bigger waste of money.
If he had better babip luck, his overall numbers would look a lot better
More upside and versatility than Mike Ford.
Tigers should be after him, a career walk rate of 12.5% should lead to better results in the future
If you can’t even catch up to an mlb fastball ur in trouble. Too bad hopes were high!
Just in time to join Genesis on tour.
I wouldn’t mind the mariners taking a flyer on him. We have the payroll. Mariners always do pretty well w asian players. I wanted him to become a mariners when he was posted.
Maybe swing a low level trade.to match some cash. Idk. ..
Maybe the mariners will make the playoffs before i die. Idk.