The Mariners have joined the growing list of teams interested in Japanese star outfielder Masataka Yoshida, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Morosi adds that the Mariners will be one of Yoshida’s “top suitors” this winter. However, Yoshida’s current team, the Orix Buffaloes, will have to finalize the terms of his posting agreement before the deadline on December 5th.
Yoshida slashed a robust .336/.449/.559 with 21 homers during the 2022 season, his fifth consecutive season with an on-base percentage greater than .400. His blend of contact and power has led to a lot of early interest in the 29-year-old, with Jon Heyman of the New York Post reporting that the Yankees are also looking at the left-handed hitter.
During the 2022 season, the Mariners primarily relied on an outfield trio of All-Star Julio Rodriguez and former All-Stars Mitch Haniger and Jesse Winker. That group was aided by utilitymen Dylan Moore and Sam Haggerty, former top prospect Jarred Kelenic, and Taylor Trammell. The Mariners also have 2020 Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis, who spent most of the season in Triple-A Tacoma. Of that group, only Haniger is a free agent, leaving Seattle with a deep outfield mix.
As noted by MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk, since Yoshida has not played enough to earn full free agency, the Buffaloes would have to agree to post their star outfielder and would be entitled to a posting fee based on Yoshida’s major league contract. Under the current MLB-NPB agreement, teams interested in Yoshida would have to pay the Buffaloes a fee equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% of any dollars thereafter. Once posted, Yoshida and his representatives will have only 30 days to negotiate a deal with MLB teams. If no agreement is reached during the 30-day window, Yoshida would have to return to the Buffaloes.
Recent players who made the jump from NPB to MLB include Cubs’ outfielder Seiya Suzuki. In Suzuki’s last season with the Hiroshima Carp, the righty slashed .317/.433/.636 which led him to a five-year, $85MM contract with Chicago. However, Suzuki was only 27-years-old when he transitioned to Majors and had posted an OPS north of 1.000 in three of his last four seasons with the Carp.
I hope the Mariners do eventually sign this guy.
They historically have had pretty good luck (results) with Japanese players.
Everyone thinks they’re getting ichiro when in reality they’re getting kosuke fukudome.
Or Cub’s Suzuki. A bust.
Seiya Suzuki was worth 2 bWAR and 2 fWAR this season. Solidly above average. Not an all-star but not a bust.
He’s a bust if you go back and read the hype pre signing and his hot start hype , which fizzled out very quick.
How much $ in total did Cubs pay for Suzuki (all in) last year!
Nearly $100 Mil with “no trade” clause.
Sounds about right since he replaces Heyward.
Suzuki started well looked like a steal then got injured spent time on the DL and came back slowly.
The point is he will be just fine we’ll worth what the Cubs paid for him imo.
It is true that you never know when you bring someone in from Japan but the track record for high end Japanese players is pretty good.
Yes, In Japan……..
There is no “DL”!
Edp007 — Patience. It is not an easy transition from NPB to MLB. Suzuki can not be called a “bust” at this stage of his MLB career.
He wasn’t even considered a top 10 free agent last year. And he didn’t “fizzle out.” He maintained being a solidly above average player. He slashed .262/.336/.433 for a 116 wRC+ and 116 OPS+ and passable defense. No matter how you try to justify it, he wasn’t a bust this past season.
if you can keep your Cubs hate out of it for a sec, you have to realize that you need more than one year to judge Suzuki. So, the jury is still out on him. And anyway, what is money to the Cubs? They may not spend like it, but they’ve got more money than God.
This guy is much better then the Cubs Suzuki. Don’t be fooled. He won’t be better then the Mariners Suzuki though, few are.
Is the MLB so slight on OF talent that we have to look for a Japanese 5’8 176 pound outfielder who will turn 30 next season? Ichiro was a unicorn. I’m not sure there’s a got of gold at the end of this rainbow.
Maybe Yoshida can net us another 1st round pick for winning ROY in ’23.
The M’s have had two Suzukis and a Kawasaki. No Hondas yet.
And also a Sorrento
Ichiro 2.0?
Ichiro was terrible last half of his mlb career. Horrid. Couldn’t get a ball out of the infield. I don’t think he drove in a run from second base in five years lol all he could do was beat out choppers on occasion by then lol
And then he became a first ballot hall of famer moron
Albert Pujols is also a first ballot hof, horrid ten years as an Angel … you obviously didn’t watch many Ichiro games last half of his mlb career
Ichiro played until he was 45 years old! Even at 42 he was a 1.6 bWAR player, while Seiya Suzuki will score some RoY votes being a 2.0 bWAR player at age-27 — a difference of 15 years!
That doesn’t even count what he’d bring to the table in the clubhouse and hitting and fielding drills, working with younger players.
I looked up the stats on 51 and found that he had over 200 hits in each of his first 11 years in the league. I liked him for the get go and remember the excitement Ichiro brought to the Mariner’s lineup. It was 2444 hits in his first 11 years…Great player for our lineup in 2001 with 242 hits as a rookie.
EDP – are you saint this just for responses? Because he was never terrible, and 2010 was the only year in his career he had more than 80 strikeouts – in a season. He was a contact hitter – never had a high slugging percentage. And as another mentioned – first ballot HOF. he was solid up until his age 43 season – and being there is not a lot of data on players over 40 – he probably sets the bar.
Those last 5 years of Ichiro’s career were from 41-45 years old. People forget that he played 19 years in the majors.
During those 3 seasons in Miami near the end of his career he was a plus defensive player. He also had 11 triples!! At 41-43 years old.
He was an incredibly talented player.
C’mon man, you’re talking about his age 53, 54 and 55 seasons, not the last half of his MLB career. Everyone knows that! What’s wrong with you?
Oh you mean on his was to over 4,000 hits. Yeah, one tends to slow down approaching 45.
Too bad we couldn’t watch him in his 20’s playing for Orix.
In 2004 my wife and I spent spring training in Arizona. We had a chance to talk to Ichiro on the backfields before he started batting practice. He speaks incredibly good English.
My wife asked him what was the most incredible thing he had seen a player do over a season. He said that when he was child he watched in awe what Sadaharu Oh did in the last years of his career.
Then he surprised us by asking what was the most incredible thing we had seen a baseball player do over a season. I blurted out Tony Gwynn from 1993 to 1998.
I think he was expecting us to say something about what he had done, so when he didn’t answer for a long time I thought I had insulted him. Then he said I will be like Tony Gwynn this year and you can add me to your greatest ever.
Look up what Ichiro did that year. It was very Gwynn like That moment and that year are forever part of his legend for us.
I don’t understand why my Phillies are never involved in these type of players from asia
This is so true. They are never in the mix.
You pay for Ichiro. Most of the time, you get Shogo Akiyama. Now granted it was his first year, Suzuki was $8M for a 2 fWAR year in 2022.
When you combine the posting fees with the contract, cultural and differences in MLB play – it’s a major risk.
That being said, Ichiro/Ohtani are one of a kind.
Tadahito Iguchi, So Taguchi
Hao-Yu Lee is currently in the system.
Supposedly Yoshida has an obsession with Bryce Harper, so you might get your wish!
To be fair, Iguchi and Taguchi were acquired from other organizations (White Sox and Cardinals, respectively). The Phillies have never really been big players in the market for Japanse players coming from the NPB. If Yoshida is a big Harper guy maybe he will be the first they actually sign out of the NPB
Oh they will be involved
In this case it’s rather simple, the Phillies have absolutely no room for another outfielder.
Well they have the need, but they have two players with butterfingers clogging up spots, another that looks like he bathes in butter daily, and the best of the bunch will be unable to play out there until June or July.
That OF got them to the WS. I’m cool with it. Marsh is a very solid CF. You’re stuck with Schwarber and Castellanos at the corners until Harper is healthy, but even then, you’ll have to play one of them while the the other DHs. Why splurge on an OF? They need a SS or 2B, and SP. That’s the goal.
Von as a fellow longtime philly fan thanks for keeping these knuckleheads in order.
I think that if the Red Sox do not resign him that Bogaerts will end up in Philadelphia.
With the defensive problems they had in 2022, getting the best possible defensive SS would probably be a better move, meaning Correa or Swanson of the big 4, but I think that Dombrowski will go after Bogaerts because of his offense and Dombrowski’s familiarity with him and his agent.
I’d love to see a reunite with Freddy Galvis. His career seemed to be on an upward trajectory right through his stint in Toronto. After that he was judged and mishandled and put into platoon roles. He’s still at a good age turning 34 after a year over seas.
baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=gal…
Yoshida plays LF, Schwarber moves to first base, and Hoskins (who would likely be due $12-13M in arbitration) gets traded for pitching and/or prospects. I am not a big “trade Hoskins” guy but Yoshida brings more balance to the lineup and is likely to score more runs. The Harper connection strikes twice this off season.
Trade one of the most productive members of the offense and clubhouse leader? I got to disagree here. You trade him at the deadline or end of season perhaps, but right now he’s cheap.
Yes.
At the end of the season I believe he will be a free agent. The Phillies need baserunners and fewer strikeouts more than Hoskins’ boom or bust streakiness. I like Rhys too but unfortunately he becomes the odd man out.
Captain Dunsel — Well, that would certainly be a Phillies type move given that Yoshida is known to be a clank glove, a truly brutal defensive player. I think the Phillies go for Trea Turner and tighten there awful defense.
Of course they sign Turner; that’s why I said that the Harper connection strikes twice. Marsh is very good in CF, and as for LF defense, I have 4 words for you: Pat Burrell, Greg Luzinski.
I don’t think that’s the right move. You need some homegrown guys, and that clubhouse chemistry was special. Hoskins is key to that. If they want to make another run, he has to stay, bad glove and all. Let’s remember that the entire offense was shutdown in 4 games against superior Astros pitching. It’s not like Hoskins was the only one. His defense is atrocious, but his offense production won’t be easy to replace.
More runners on base for the rest of the boppers can certainly compensate for Hoskins’ solo and 2 run home runs. Turner can bring good chemistry, though with Hoskins’ long Phillies history I give you that point.
Also, most importantly of all, Yoshida is a worse fielder than Schwarber. Let that sink in. This dude is yet another DH. A great bat though.
Worse than Bull was?
I don’t think I’d go that far. Haha.
VPH, it’s the HHC that’s all…The Hoskins Haters Club. They are very similar to the Foles-ian Society.in Philly….
The HHC feels he and his 1yr of control can be moved for a team’s #3, even though they detest the man…?
Am not a huge fan of Hoskins, but with his leadership and the fact Harper may miss a decent part of the season (UCL) not much is to be gained with moving him. So many underestimate his worth?
My take is that you run it back with him and let him walk…
Phillies will be in the hunt for the division and assuredly another WC berth…
Phillies are going to spend big on a SS, the only question is will it be $180 million for Bogaerts or $250 million for Turner. They could trade Hoskins but with only one year of control you’re probably going to be selling low (also, people suggesting trading Hoskins now to accommodate another Outfielder must mean Phillie fans are content with Bohm at 3B?). Outside of a SS addition i don’t see the Phillies spending crazy on free agents beyond supplementing the pitching staff
Turner is asking for a Seager-like contract. 10/325 or more. He is the 2nd worst of the 4 main SS on the FA market on defense and regressing, so that would fit with the Phillies M.O., too.
Over the last 3 full seasons, Correa has been the best defensive shortstop by DRS in MLB and Swanson by OAA out of the 4 free agents.
Before anyone brings it up, in the age of extreme shifts UZR, is pretty useless because it is based on plays made in specific zones. So I don’t use it or defensive fWAR since it uses UZR. UZR is also why fWAR is inaccurate for position players. For pitchers its great. For position players bWAR is much more accurate.
So if the Phillies want the best overall SS, they take Correa and pay the 9-10 years and $300 million he is asking.
If they want great defense on a shorter and much less expensive contract, they take Swanson.
If they want great offense and a shorter and less expensive contract they take Bogaerts.
I just don’t see a scenario where Turner is their guy.
$195 million for Bogaerts or $325 million for Turner.
Maybe they’re afraid to live in Philly 🙂
Couldn’t be remotely as bad as East LA. Most dense gang region in the US. I’ll trade for Philly. Minus the cold of course…I am no good with the cold.
Lol
Are you biased against gangs? But you don’t even know them.
I’ve heard they are mostly peaceful folk though I am still firmly dubious…
Clip, I do live down here in gangland USA in all honesty haha..It’s a long story….In any case, I don’t get messed with because one might say I am a “scary” looking guy but more importantly, around here everyone is convinced I am a Fed…I have a different look and demeanor from the general populace. Fine with me. I mostly follow J.B
Books’ creed from “The Shootist.” “I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to others and I expect the same from them.”
That’s cool man, but you just blew my whole illustration of you telling that hilarious Altuve joke out of the water. There are many studies that reflect violent criminals often take advantage of those who are the easiest victims because they are opportunistic. They don’t want to risk a difficult challenge when they don’t have to. But, your change in appearance may just make you telling the joke even funnier now, which I didn’t think was possible.
Perhaps one of the funniest things I’ve read on here. The visual is just…..classic hahahaha
Clip, the practice a$$-slapping was TRUE! Altuve went flying face down into the dirt! The entire bullpen ran in to help scoop him up. He was spitting out dirt for 10 mins!
P.S. Clip, there was film of it…Someone got it on their iphone. They immediately started teasing Altuve telling him he was going to go “viral” by lunch time…He chased the guy through the stands for 5mins trying to grab the phone…Once they got to the train tracks in left Center, Altuve got his small foot caught in the track and tumbled down to the lower LF stands…At that point he was pretty banged up…So he limped up to Crane’s office and told him to kill the story or he wanted to be traded. Rest is history..
More to the story Clip.. Keep reading..
Brother, I’m in tears, man. Hahahahaha, please, keep going!
Clip, next week on story time, I’ll tell you the truth about why George Springer got sent to Canada to play ball, and how it all started by him stealing Altuve’s pizza Lunchables off the team bus while Altuve was sleeping on the way back from a road game….Took em right out of his lunch pail as he slept…
I can’t wait! Same channel?
Philly isn’t so bad, but more importantly, most players live in expensive suburbs outside of the city’s they play in. Very few Mets live in Queens. Very few Yankees live in the Bronx. Very few Phillies live in inner Philadelphia
Indeed Von. Just like a lot of big leaguers in LA don’t live in East LA haha. Maybe off of La Cienega…A lot live in the Valley. Encino. Suburbs as you said…
And not one professional baseball player lives anywhere near East LA
Have you been to St Louis? Or Detroit? Or Baltimore? Or Kansas City? Or Milwaukee? Or Cleveland? Or Oakland? Or Minneapolis? Or Chicago? Or Houston?
All of those cities have a higher violent crime rate per capita than Philadelphia. The top 3 on that list are more than twice as many violent crimes per capita than Philadelphia.
Because Seattle is much much closer to Japan. Closer to home. More media attention.
All 1 of them
They’re going to sign him on December 7.
Signing a Japanese player on Pearl Harbor day? I’m good with it. Especially if it’s the Mariners that sign him!
Most teams scout the international stars. Seattle taking a look at Japanese players is to be expected.
That said, I would imagine Yoshida isn’t plan A, B, or C. The Mariners aren’t really a team that can or should rely heavily on unproven players. They currently have two rebound-projects in Winker and Murphy, and have 3 glaring holes without Haniger in the mix.
Are they really likely to stock up on question marks? If they can’t retain Haniger and are still able to get a couple of stars, I could see taking a shot at Yoshida. Easy to see the Padres, Giants, and a number of other clubs interested as well.
You shouldn’t bunch Winker with Murphy. It’s not even close to being a similar situation between those 2. Murphy was hitting when he got hurt and is going to be our backup catcher and can play defense. Winker was atrocious everywhere this year.
They were both injured and are looking to rebound. Both required surgery. Murphy’s was shoulder surgery, which could affect both his defense and offense.
Both are questionable. Murphy missed nearly the entire season. Regarding him ‘hitting’, he had just 42 PAs and he was 0 for his last 20.
We struggled to understand what sapped Winker’s power. Well, perhaps it was his knee and/or neck. Dipoto stated it was a season-long issue him. I’m skeptical (about a rebound), but the point stands: Seattle, for now, is in fact hoping both can rebound and I personally don’t think it would be wise to take anymore question marks on board if they can help it.
For the record, I like Murphy and Winker, but my own plan didn’t have him sticking around, and if he does, I would certainly hope he doesn’t play the field unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Suzuki did not have a great season in his first year with the Cubs, but he was getting acclimated to life in the states plus he battled some injury woes. So, the jury is still out on him. Just goes to show that stats certainly don’t translate.
He did fine for his first year and still 50x better player than heyward
Well, that’s a low bar there but yeah he was decent. Strong arm, solid D and runs thr bases well. I expected to see more slug tho. Maybe it will come in his 2nd season…
Yoshida looks to have many suiters, he is a great hitter in his prime! Rangers, Yankees, Giants, and Red Sox will be their competition
Want him to succeed but very doubtful poor fielder only 5’8 will hit way less hr plus side doesn’t k much always will give good ab but only see him as a 4 outfielder bench player
Rangers need to be selling and stocking up to improve their minor system. They have a minuscule chance to get a playoff spot. If we don’t get Yoshida I hope he goes there. Spend money keep paying high prices for FAs that will not help you get past Ms and Stos.
There have been 20 players from Japan who are primarily hitters (or are Shohei Ohtani) with at least 250 PAs in MLB (according to baseball-reference).
18 of the 20 had a lower OPS in MLB than in Japan. On average, Japanese hitters have underproduced their OPS in Japan by an average of .131 (.839 to .708).
On average, their HR rates drop from 3.1% in Japan to 1.9% in MLB.
If you are getting Shohei Ohtani or Ichiro, it’s worth it. Otherwise, it’s a losing proposition and likely a waste of money. That being said, I hope the Mariners or Yankees get him.
1.069-0.131=0.938. I shall take that OPS from a left fielder every day and twice on Sunday.
He’s all yours. Lemme know how it works out.
He’s a DH type.
I’m very confident in Yoshida’s ability to hit in the majors. However, he doesn’t bring anything else. He’s a poor corner outfield defender with maybe average speed. I’d much rather take a chance on Nimmo but it would depend on the cost differences. Maybe Suzuki’s dip in stats last year will depress Yoshida’s market enough to make him a good value. Also, he seems desperate to be a Bryce Harper teammate.
As the only true CFer who can hit on the market, I expect Nimmo to do quite well. 5 years, 120M.
Yes. A very good player who is going to get massively overpayed because of the current market.
From the earliest reports, it seems that Nimmo is looking for waaay more than what I believe he’s worth. He’s a good player for sure but not worth what he wants. Best to stay away
Leaving Seattle with a deep outfield mix??? Tell me you’re not paying attention to Seattle without telling me you’re not paying attention to Seattle.
Winker had a horrible season and just had 2 surgeries. Mitch is gone. Moore and Haggerty are super utility players. Kelenic hasn’t shown he can handle the bigs. Neither had Trammell. And Lewis??? His knee is toast and can’t run well and so defensively he’s done.
Outside of Julio… they’ve got nothing set to compete with Houston.
Seattle does have outfield depth… it just isn’t very deep depth!
Marco Gonzalez for Mike Yastremski, even up?
The Mariners competed extremely well with the Astros, A Houston starting pitcher commented how the M’s gave them the most trouble. Dipoto did a great job building a team that had a chance to go deep into October. Great pitching, great defense, and players who can hit the ball out of the park. It just didn’t work out. The manager pinch ran for our team leader in home runs in the 9th inning. It went 18 innings and Eugenio would have had three more at bats. We needed a clutch hit or two and two less managerial blunders.
I think there’s something much bigger at play here between Yoshida and Senga signing with whichever team they do: that team will likely have an advantage in signing a much, much better hitter than Yoshida in Murakami, who is getting posted next year, and is only 22-years-old. He is a beast who hit 55(?) HRs this year in Japan. He plays both 3B & 1B.
That’s the real gold mine for signing Yoshida. Yoshida is going to be a contact hitter with some pop. His contact rate should be better than that of Suzuki, by most assessments, so his K-rate lower. He’s an average defensive LFer with below-average speed. He’s only 5’8” tall so he’s not generating a ton of leverage, and he has a long swing through the zone, but he has quick hands to the ball.
They did an OK job with the last Orix player they signed. I’m hoping the M’s can land this guy.
Based on historical averages of NPB players coming to the US, Yoshida’s slashline in Japan translates to a MLB slashline around .275/.368/.458. Still a very serviceable outfielder from a slashline perspective.
The thing that would worry me if I was bidding on his services is that the last and only time he stayed healthy through even most of a full season was 2018 when he played 123 games.
Heyman said the Yankees are in on him! Wow! Didn’t see that coming!
Ok guys and gals. Yes my post about Ichiro was out of line regarding his last decade in mlb. Call it recency bias. Only his last five years when old was terrible.
He was a great player.
Sorry
If Winker returns to form and they sign this guy, the Seattle outfield will be getting on base like crazy
Lots seem to forget or want or ignore the fact that Winker was a platoon guy when he WAS hitting and couldn’t hit lefties. He’s not an everyday player. That being said, his numbers this year were better against lefties than righties. I think that’s a major cause for concern. He looked beyond lost