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Hirokazu Sawamura

Red Sox Sign Hirokazu Sawamura, Designate Jeffrey Springs

By Steve Adams | February 16, 2021 at 11:25am CDT

The Red Sox on Tuesday announced the signing of right-handed reliever Hirokazu Sawamura to a two-year contract with a dual club/player option for the 2023 season. Lefty Jeffrey Springs was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Sawamura, a veteran of 10 seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, is represented by JBA Sports.

Reports over the past week have indicated that Sawamura and the Sox were discussing an affordable two-year pact, which The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal recently pegged at $3MM in guaranteed money. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets that Sawamura will earn a $1.2MM base salary in both years of the contract, though his 2022 base salary can reach $1.7MM based on his performance in the contract’s first year. The Red Sox also hold a club option valued at $3-4MM depending on performance escalators and milestones. Should they decline their half, Sawamura would have a player option valued between $600K and $2.2MM. The contract also contains $250K of annual incentives. All in all, Rosenthal suggested the contract can top out at $7.65MM over three years.

Sawamura, 33 in April, pitched nine and a half seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan before being traded to the Chiba Lotte Marines early in 2020. He’d gotten out to a rough start with his longtime club, erving up nine runs in his first 13 1/3 frames, but Sawamura turned things around with the Marines. In 21 innings down the stretch, he pitched to a pristine 1.71 ERA while striking out 29 of the 82 batters he faced (35.3 percent). Sawamura walked 10 in that time (12.1 percent) — far more than has been characteristic throughout his NPB career, but the promising finish likely assuaged some concerns from MLB clubs about a potential decline.

Overall, Sawamura has logged 868 1/3 innings in his NPB career and worked to a 2.77 ERA with a 22.1 percent strikeout rate and a 7.3 percent walk rate. He began his career as a starter before becoming the Giants’ closer in 2015 — a role he’d hold for two years.

Sawamura racked up 73 saves as the Giants’ primary ninth-inning option from 2015-16 before missing the 2017 season due to a shoulder issue. That missed season came after a bizarre scene in which a lesser shoulder issue was mistreated, leading to broader nerve troubles that sidelined him for months. The team’s president, GM and medical staff all reportedly apologized to Sawamura after the incident. Since his return in 2018, he’s worked as a setup man. He’s pitched mostly in a setup capacity since returning in 2018.

Sawamura has been healthy since that regrettable sequence and gives the Red Sox an intriguing hurler who could eventually emerge as a late-inning option. The right-hander has a fastball that can reach 97 mph, a low-90s splitter that functions as his primary out pitch, and a lesser-used slider to round out a three-pitch arsenal.

If that $3MM is indeed the final guarantee, that will represent a $1.5MM luxury-tax hit for the Red Sox, regardless of how those dollars are paid out. Such a commitment narrowly fits within a rapidly shrinking window between Boston’s overall luxury ledger and the $210MM tax threshold.

Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez now has them with a bit less than $2MM of breathing room, which makes additional dealings unlikely unless the Sox suddenly abandon their preference to stay south of the barrier, put together another trade to reduce their financial obligations or cut one of their arbitration-eligible players during Spring Training. (Unless specifically bargained otherwise, arbitration deals are only partially guaranteed up until Opening Day.)

Turning to the 28-year-old Springs, he’ll now be available to other clubs either via outright waivers, a trade or a simple release. The Red Sox have a week to make a decision as to which route they’ll choose. The 2020 season was Springs’ first with the Red Sox, and it proved to be a struggle. In 20 1/3 frames, the former Rangers southpaw was tagged for a 7.08 ERA. He struck out 28 percent of his opponents against just a seven percent walk rate, but five of the 99 opponents Springs faced took him deep. He has a 5.42 ERA and 4.66 FIP in 84 2/3 innings at the Major League level between the Texas and Boston organizations.

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Boston Red Sox Hirokazu Sawamura Jeffrey Springs Transactions

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Red Sox Nearing Deal With Hirokazu Sawamura

By Anthony Franco | February 15, 2021 at 2:09pm CDT

FEB. 15: The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) has additional contract details, saying Sawamura will earn $3MM over the course of the two-year pact and the Red Sox also have a “conditional and complex” club option on his services for the 2023 season.  If Sawamura hits every possible bonus, the contract will max out at $7.65MM over the three years.

FEB. 10: The Red Sox “appear on the cusp of” a deal with Sawamura, writes Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Sankei Sports reports it will be a two-year, $2.4MM deal with additional incentives available, according to Speier.

FEB. 7: The Red Sox are making progress on a deal with reliever Hirokazu Sawamura, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (Twitter link). If finalized, it’s expected to be a major league contract, per Cotillo. Sawamura is an unrestricted free agent, so the Sox would not owe any compensation to his previous Nippon Professional Baseball team, the Chiba Lotte Marines.

The 32-year-old (33 in April) has pitched to a 2.77 ERA with decent strikeout (22.0%) and walk (7.3%) rates in nine seasons at Japan’s highest level. Sawamura had a difficult start to the 2020 season with the Yomiuri Giants, pitching to a 6.08 ERA while striking out eleven and issuing eight walks in 13.2 innings. After the Giants traded him to the Marines midseason, though, Sawamura turned his fortunes around. Over 21 innings for the Marines down the stretch, the right-hander worked to a 1.71 ERA with a much better 29:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Last year’s early struggles were surely a red flag for some big league teams, but Sawamura’s post-trade rebound, his track record, and MLB-caliber arsenal have all seemingly worked in his favor as he’s talked with MLB teams this winter. Sawamura has a fastball that can reach 97 mph, a low-90s splitter that functions as his primary out pitch, and a slider.

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Boston Red Sox Hirokazu Sawamura Nippon Professional Baseball

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Hirokazu Sawamura Has Drawn Interest From MLB Clubs

By Steve Adams | October 26, 2020 at 2:09pm CDT

Japanese righty Hirokazu Sawamura has drawn early interest from multiple Major League teams, MLBTR has learned. It’s not yet certain that the 32-year-old reliever will make the jump to the big leagues, but the nine-year veteran has pitched in front of plenty of Major League scouts during his tenure in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He’s an unrestricted free agent this winter, so he won’t be subject to the NPB-MLB posting system.

Sawamura spent the bulk of his NPB career pitching with the Yomiuri Giants but got out to a rough start in 2020 — nine runs on 14 hits and eight walks in 13 2/3 innings — prompting the Giants to trade him to the Chiba Lotte Marines. He’s righted the ship with his new team, allowing just two runs on six hits and seven walks with 19 punchouts in 14 2/3 frames.

Overall, Sawamura has logged 862 innings in his NPB career and worked to a 2.77 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9. He began his career as a starter before becoming the Giants’ closer in 2015. He racked up 73 saves over the next two seasons as their primary ninth-inning option before missing the 2017 season due to a shoulder issue. (Bizarrely, it seems the Giants mistreated his initial discomfort with an acupuncture procedure that resulted in a nerve injury; the team’s president and GM both issued apologies to the right-hander.) He’s pitched mostly in a setup capacity since returning in 2018.

This year’s early struggles will surely be a red flag for some big league teams, but Sawamura’s post-trade rebound, his track record and a potentially MLB-caliber arsenal should all work in his favor if he does hope to sign in North America. The right-hander has a fastball that can reach 97 mph, a low-90s splitter that functions as his primary out pitch and a slider.

It’s hard to gauge precisely what type of market Sawamura would find, though demand for affordable bullpen help will be widespread, as is the case each winter. Some recent examples of pure relievers coming over from NPB include the Padres’ two-year, $3.8MM deal with Kazuhisa Makita, the Blue Jays’ one-year, $1MM deal with Rafael Dolis (plus a club option) and the Brewers $1MM deal with Jay Jackson. Dolis and Jackson, of course, were returning after years away from the big leagues.

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Hirokazu Sawamura

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Japanese Pitchers To Watch: Kobayashi & Sawamura

By Mike Axisa | May 7, 2010 at 10:43am CDT

In his latest post at NPB Tracker, Patrick Newman fills us in on two Japanese pitchers who could find their way into MLB before long. 

Hiroyuki Kobayashi, the soon-to-be 32-year-old closer for the Chiba Lotte Marines, has already qualified for international free agency, and is reportedly ready to jump across the pond. Newman says that this isn't the first time Kobayashi has hinted at making the move either, and speculates that the Giants could be a fit. In 12 innings this year, he's struck out 16 and allowed just five hits and three walks. 

The 20-year-old Hirokazu Sawamura is the better prospect of the two, reportedly hitting 97 with his fastball. The Giants and Mets have had scouts in attendance during his recent starts for Chuo University, and one opined that it would "be a waste for him to stay in Japan." A quote from February suggests that Sawamura is leaning towards staying in Japan, but the lure of a payday similar to Junichi Tazawa's could be tough to pass up. 

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Hirokazu Sawamura Hiroyuki Kobayashi New York Mets San Francisco Giants

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