After an outstanding start to his career in Japan, Luke Voit is sticking around for another year, as the Rakuten Eagles announced that they have re-signed the first baseman to a new contract for the 2026 Nippon Professional Baseball season. (Hat tip to Yakyu Cosmopolitan.)
Voit signed with the Eagles in June and made a quick impact with his new team. Over 276 plate appearances and 67 games as a DH and first baseman, Voit hit .300/.384/.498 with 13 home runs. Despite his late entry to the 2025 campaign, Voit still led the Eagles in homers, and had the second-most RBI (39) on the team. Retaining Voit was a logical move for the power-starved Eagles, whose 70 homers were the fewest of NPB’s 12 clubs.
A veteran of seven Major League seasons, Voit last appeared in the Show in May 2023 playing with the Brewers. He has spent the last two seasons outside of affiliated ball entirely with stints in the Mexican League and Nippon Professional Baseball, and that sojourn now looks to extend into 2026.
Voit led the majors with 22 home runs during the shortened 2020 season, and hit a very impressive .271/.363/.520 with 68 homers over 1133 PA with the Yankees from 2018-21. An injury-plagued down year for Voit in 2021 led New York to deal him to the Padres that offseason. The slugger’s last bit of real notoriety in the majors came when San Diego included him as the only experienced piece of the prospect-heavy trade package sent to the Nationals for Juan Soto at the 2022 trade deadline.
Glad to hear he’s still going in Japan at least.
He’s healthy again too so that’s great news.
I didn’t even remember he was part of the Soto deal
I think he was only included because someone else had a no-trade or 10/5 rights and refused to be traded. Might have been Hosmer. I don’t remember for sure.
If i recall correctly, he was just included as salary relief. I believe Koe is corr3ct that it was initially Hosmer included but he vetoed.
Yes, it was Eric “Too Good For The Nats” Hosmer, who went on to be DFA’d by the Red Sox and Cubs to close out his career with a whimper.
It was Hosmer, because he didn’t want traded to the Nats, and ended up getting sent to the Red Sox because they weren’t on his NTC if I remember correctly. It was primarily just to offset salaries.
Luke Voit is no Jack Elliot.
He might be a Munetaka Murakami.
No one is.🙂
I really hope he makes it there. The bar is much lower, they seem more honest with themselves about what his value is, he’ll likely make in the high hundreds of thousands to low millions per season and they reportedly pay the local taxes on top of the contract, so it is, financially, like he is playing in the United States…. might as well make that money.
Good for Voit.
Whatever happens the rest of his career, he can show his grandkids a plaque from being the home run champ in 2020. Best of luck to him.
Little known fact: George Constanza bought his car before he headed to Japan.
LOL!!!
I believe he bought Jon Voits car
I hope Ben Rice is looking hard at Voit’s career. Yankees have a habit of having flash in the pan guys like this.
I remember Kevin Maas.
Deep cut reference there with Kevin Maas. But you may not be wrong. Yankees tend to do this- find a first baseman type who is a semi-prolific masher for them for 2-4 years and then they get Keyzer Soze’d and it’s like baseball is convinced he didn’t exist. And like that, poof. He’s gone.
Have you ever seen Ben Rice and Luke Voit in the same room? Something is sus here.
@Non. LoL. Mass a blast from the past. Has he been to old-timers day? I love Rice, but where does he play? Would the Yankees trade Wells? Is Rice definitely at 1B?