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NPB’s Tokyo Yakult Swallows Extend Jose Osuna

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First baseman Jose Osuna has signed a three-year contract extension to remain with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball, according to Yahoo Japan.  Osuna will receive $5.1MM, as per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter), with salaries of $1.4MM in 2022, $1.7MM in 2023, and $2MM in 2024.  Another $900K is available in incentives.

Osuna, who turns 29 later this month, hit .258/.293/.401 with 13 home runs over 495 plate appearances for the Swallows in 2021, serving as the team’s primary first baseman and also getting a bit of playing time at third base.  Osuna also picked up some key hits for the Swallows during their postseason run, as the Tokyo squad captured the Japan Series championship.

While his numbers were modest, the Swallows clearly felt good enough about Osuna’s performance to make this long-term commitment.  The $5.1MM also represents much more security that Osuna would’ve found in a contract with a big league team this winter, as he would likely have had to settle for a minor league deal (and could’ve now been in limbo due to the lockout).

A longtime member of the Pirates organization, Osuna hit .241/.280/.430 with 24 home runs over 705 career plate appearances in the majors, all with Pittsburgh from 2017-20.  Osuna received a solid chunk of playing time in part-time and platoon roles with the Bucs, though the club opted to designate him for assignment last offseason rather than pay him a projected $1.1MM arbitration salary.

From that same Yahoo Japan report, the Swallows are also in talks with outfielder Domingo Santana about another contract.  In his first Japanese season, Santana was one of the Swallows’ top bats, hitting .290/.366/.511 with 19 home runs over 418 PA.

The author of a 30-homer season with the Brewers in 2017, Santana hit .255/.341/.446 with 77 home runs over parts of seven big league seasons from 2014-20 with Houston, Milwaukee, Seattle, and Cleveland.  Santana’s subpar defense, however, made him a veritable bat-only player, so the Guardians declined their 2021 club option on his services following a mediocre 2020 campaign.

Padres To Sign Nick Martinez To Four-Year Deal

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THURSDAY, 7:45am: Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Martinez remains a free agent, though sources tell MLBTR that there is no concern the deal won’t be completed after the lockout since an agreement is in place between Martinez and the Padres.  It’s also worth noting that Martinez is set to earn $7MM in 2022, so he’d be leaving three years and $13MM on the table if he decides to opt out.

WEDNESDAY, 9:21pm: The Padres are signing Nick Martínez to a four-year, $20MM contract, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link).  The deal includes opt-outs after the first two years. The right-hander has spent the past four seasons pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. His contract with the NPB’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks just expired today, but his representatives worked quickly to find him a big league landing spot before the anticipated transactions freeze.  Martinez is represented by Brian Mejia, Ulises Cabrera, and Alan Nero of Octagon.

Martínez is making his return to the majors for the first time since 2017, though he did pitch for Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics this summer. The Florida native was drafted and developed by the Rangers, where current San Diego president of baseball operations A.J. Preller was then a prominent member of the scouting department. Martínez debuted in 2014 and worked as a back-of-the-rotation arm for the next few seasons.

Martinez, 31, posted a stellar 1.62 ERA with a 24.8 K% and 6.6 BB% for the Hawks this year in 149 2/3 innings.  According to Sung Min Kim, Martinez’s fastball velocity increased to nearly 94 miles per hour this year, and his changeup has become more effective.  Several American pitchers have revived their careers in NPB or KBO in recent years and returned to MLB on big league deals, including Chris Flexen, Josh Lindblom, Merrill Kelly, and Miles Mikolas.  Martinez’s contract tops all of them, as Mikolas had inked a two-year, $15.5MM deal with the Cardinals four years ago.  Plus, Martinez maintains the ability to re-enter free agency if he’s able to have success in 2022 or ’23.

Martinez’s $5MM AAV is key for the Padres, one of only two teams to exceed the $210MM luxury tax threshold in 2021.  The club is currently in a similar place for 2022, though we don’t know how much success the players’ union will have in increasing the base tax threshold.

Martinez joins a Padres rotation that currently includes Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Mike Clevinger.  Chris Paddack, Dinelson Lamet, and Ryan Weathers also figure to be in the mix.  Though that’s significant depth, but it’s plausible that Preller might look to trade someone as a means of clearing payroll.  The Padres already sent Adam Frazier to the Mariners to clear an estimated $7MM or so.

Aside from the Frazier trade, the Padres added to their stock of catchers by acquiring Jorge Alfaro from the Marlins.    They also signed a pair of relievers today in Luis Garcia and Robert Suarez, with the latter having played against Martinez in NPB this year.  There’s a sense that the Padres have plenty of additional offseason moves to make, but like the other 29 teams everything will go on pause until the lockout ends.

Pirates Release Cody Ponce To Pursue NPB Opportunity

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The Pirates have released right-hander Cody Ponce, according to the team’s transactions log at MLB.com. The right-hander is pursuing an opportunity in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, reports Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Reports out of Japan have suggested he’ll be signing with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

Ponce has appeared in the majors in each of the past two seasons, combining to work 55 1/3 innings over 20 outings. Most of that work has come as a multi-inning reliever, but Ponce did make a more traditional five-inning start against the Cubs in May. Altogether, he’s managed a 5.86 ERA. Ponce has only punched out 19.6% of opponents and struggled with home runs, but he’s also been quite stingy with walks (6.9%).

Transactions of this ilk aren’t uncommon, as players on the fringes of a 40-man roster can often make more in foreign professional leagues than they’d stand to earn as up-and-down players with a big league club. It’s not out of the question Ponce returns to the majors at some point down the line, particularly if he settles in as a productive member of the Fighters’ rotation over the next season or two.

The move clears a space on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster. That’ll be needed for the signing of Roberto Pérez, who reportedly agreed to terms on a $5MM guarantee this afternoon.

Yankees Release Chris Gittens; Gittens Expected To Pursue NPB Opportunity

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The Yankees have released Chris Gittens, according to the MLB.com transactions tracker. Lindsey Adler of the Athletic reports (on Twitter) that the hulking first baseman is likely to pursue an opportunity with a team in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The move opens a spot on New York’s 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.

This kind of move isn’t uncommon for players on the fringes of a 40-man roster. Teams in South Korea or Japan are often willing to put forth a loftier guaranteed salary than players like Gittens would receive shuttling between the majors and Triple-A. Assuming he’s indeed signing with an NPB club, Gittens is likely to find himself in a more financially stable situation than he’d have been in with the Yankees.

Gittens, 28 in February, earned his first brief big league look this past season. He only tallied 44 MLB plate appearances and didn’t perform especially well, but he had an otherworldly year with their top affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Over 184 trips to the plate at the minors’ top level, the right-handed hitter mashed at a .301/.440/.644 clip with 14 homers. Given that dominant run against high level pitching, it’s easy to understand why he caught the attention of evaluators in foreign pro leagues.

It’s not out of the question Gittens makes a return to the U.S. over the coming seasons. Eric Thames, Merrill Kelly, Miles Mikolas and Josh Lindblom are a few fairly recent examples of former big leaguers who raised their stocks with strong showings in Asian professional leagues. Those players all returned to the U.S. on guaranteed big league deals later in their careers. That’s not to say it’s a given every one-time major leaguer will have that kind of success, but it’s also not out of the realm of possibility Gittens follows a similar path.

Brian O’Grady Signs With NPB’s Seibu Lions

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Former Padres, Rays and Reds first baseman/outfielder Brian O’Grady has signed with the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball, per announcements from both the Lions and from O’Grady himself (Twitter link).

O’Grady, 29, became a free agent after being outrighted off San Diego’s roster at season’s end. The 2014 eighth-round pick (Reds) saw a career-high 61 plate appearances with the Friars in 2021, frequently operating as a pinch-hitter but also drawing a handful of starts in right field. O’Grady hit .157/.267/.333 with a pair of homers, three doubles and eight walks (13.1%).

The limited role wasn’t entirely new for O’Grady, who also saw action with the Reds in 2019 and Rays in 2020 without ever receiving an opportunity at consistent playing time. He’s a career .184/.283/.388 hitter in 114 Major League plate appearances — but those plate appearances have come over the course of 62 games.

O’Grady figures to be afforded far more opportunities in Japan, and given his career .284/.362/.551 batting line in 978 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, there’s good reason to believe he’ll find success overseas. Regardless of how he performs, he’ll quite likely be paid a guaranteed salary that handily eclipses what he’d have made in another season split between Triple-A and the big leagues. A strong season in Japan could either position O’Grady for a raise on a new contract in NPB or the KBO, and success in a foreign professional league could also prime him to return to MLB on a guaranteed contract at some point down the line.

NPB’s Seibu Lions Sign Dietrich Enns

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TODAY: Enns is heading to Japan to sign with the Seibu Lions, the team announced.

NOVEMBER 17: The Rays are in the process of finalizing an agreement to send left-hander Dietrich Enns to a team either in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, the Korea Baseball Organization or Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Enns will be placed on release waivers today and, upon clearing Friday, will be free to sign with his new club.

Moves such as this one generally benefit all parties and are, of course, made with full consent from the player in question. Whichever team held interest in Enns would first contact the Rays, who’d then gauge the player’s interest in the opportunity before proceeding to negotiate a release agreement. Tampa Bay will likely receive some financial compensation for releasing Enns, while the pitcher himself will receive a larger salary in NPB or the KBO than he’d have earned as a fringe big leaguer in 2022 — if he’d even stuck on the Rays’ 40-man roster.

Enns, 30, was quite effective in 22 1/3 frames for the Rays this past season, pitching to a 2.82 ERA with an impressive 28.4% strikeout rate against a strong 6.8% walk rate. That marked the first big league action for Enns since a brief four-inning cup of coffee with the 2017 Twins, however, and the lefty’s minor league track record generally isn’t as strong as this past season’s results. Enns did post a 2.64 ERA in 71 2/3 Triple-A frames, but he carries a career 4.26 ERA with pedestrian strikeout and walk rates in nearly 400 innings at that level.

The benefit to the arrangement for Enns could be twofold. In addition to securing a guaranteed salary of some note for the first time in an 11-year professional career, he’ll also set himself up for the opportunity to potentially return to Major League Baseball outside the constructs of the arbitration system.

Had Enns remained with the Rays, he’d have needed another three years on the roster before qualifying for arbitration eligibility as a 33-year-old (at least, as the arbitration system currently stands). However, by going to NPB, the KBO or the CPBL, Enns could impress for only a season or two and then return on a guaranteed Major League deal. Chris Flexen, Merrill Kelly, Josh Lindblom and Miles Mikolas are among the recent players to go this route, securing considerable salaries overseas before returning to the big leagues on guaranteed, multi-year contracts that typically allow them to become free agents upon completion (rather than remain under control via arbitration). It’s not a foolproof gambit, of course, but even if Enns struggles in his new environs he’d still likely come away with more than he’d have earned with a big league club in 2022.

With the removal of Enns, the Rays’ 40-man roster will have three open spots. Topkin suggests that the Rays may look to open another spot or two prior to Friday’s Rule 5 protection deadline.

Seiya Suzuki To Be Posted Tomorrow Morning

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MLB has told teams that outfielder Seiya Suzuki will be posted tomorrow morning, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. That will open a 30-day window for teams to negotiate with him, with the deadline being 4:00 pm CT on December 22. If he doesn’t sign a contract by then, he will return to the Hiroshima Carp, his team in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

It was reported weeks ago that Suzuki was going to be posted, but the official timing of the posting is significant. The Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and MLBPA is set to expire at 11:59 pm ET on December 1. Due to the fact that it seems unlikely a deal will come together by then, the expectation around the industry has been that December 2 will see the implementation of a lockout and transaction freeze that would last until a new agreement is reached. Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed this scenario recently and seemed to point to its likelihood.

There’s a ten-day span from Suzuki’s posting tomorrow until that potential lockout day. Joel Sherman of the New York Post confirms that a transaction freeze would indeed apply to Suzuki as well, meaning no team could sign him while the freeze is in place. It had been previously reported that MLB and NPB were discussing an agreement wherein Suzuki’s 30-day clock would be paused during the freeze. That agreement seems to have been reached, as Sherman also reports that Suzuki’s 30-day clock will not move during a lockout. That means Suzuki is going to have to decide between hastily working out a deal in just over a week or dealing with the uncertainty of waiting out this winter’s labor strife and then having around 20 days of negotiating time on the other side of that.

Suzuki came in 20th on MLBTR’s list of Top 50 Free Agents and was predicted to get a contract of $55MM over five years. The 27-year-old seems capable of stepping right into the middle of the lineup for an MLB team, along with providing a strong arm and competent right field defense. Any big league team that signs Suzuki would owe the Carp a fee equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. For example, if Suzuki were signed for $55MM as MLBTR predicted, the signing team would have to pay the Carp $10.125MM, bringing the total bill to $65.125MM. Since the reports that he was going to be posted, Suzuki has already been connected in rumors to the Red Sox, Rangers, Giants and Mariners.

Latest On Seiya Suzuki

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Nov. 17: Suzuki is going to be posted next week, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. That would give him approximately one week to negotiate with MLB teams before the CBA expires on December 1.

Nov. 16: It had already been reported that the Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball were planning on posting outfielder Seiya Suzuki for Major League teams this winter, and now the team has confirmed those reports. After the team made the announcement earlier today, Suzuki spoke to the media about his planned transition, as relayed by Nikkan Sports and Yahoo Japan. (Both links in Japanese.)

Although the club confirmed that Suzuki will soon be posted, it doesn’t seem as though the posting has been made official just yet. This is potentially an important detail because once the posting is made official, it starts a 30-day window for MLB teams to negotiate with Suzuki and his representatives. If that clock runs out without Suzuki having signed an MLB deal, he will return to the Carp.

This year, that has the potential to coincide with the December 1 expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which could reportedly lead to a transaction freeze. Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic addressed this issue, reporting that “MLB and NPB were close to an agreement in which that clock would be stopped in the event of an industry lockout.” The wording is vague there, making it unclear if the agreement is actually in place or not, but that would be another noteworthy detail in this saga. Hypothetically, even if Suzuki were posted tomorrow, just two weeks would transpire before December 1 and the expiring of the CBA. If a transaction freeze were then implemented, Suzuki’s 30-day clock would be paused, leaving him with more than two weeks of negotiating time after a new CBA is implemented and transactions are resumed. Of course, all of that is contingent on that MLB-NPB agreement having been finalized.

Suzuki, 27, has been one of the best players in NPB in recent years and figures to have a robust market once the posting is made official. MLBTR recently ranked him 20th on the annual list of top free agents, noting that he has the potential to be a middle-of-the-order bat with competent defense, and projecting he could land a contract of $55MM over five years. Since rumors of his posting emerged, he’s already been connected to the Giants, Rangers and Red Sox. Any big league team that signs Suzuki would owe the Carp a fee equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. For example, if Suzuki were signed for $55MM as MLBTR predicted, the signing team would have to pay the Carp $10.125MM, bringing the total bill to $65.125MM.

NPB’s Hiroshima Carp Sign Nik Turley

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The Hiroshima Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball signed left-hander Nik Turley to a one-year contract last week, the team announced.  Turley will receive 73 million yen plus incentives (roughly $641K) as well as a signing bonus of 11 million yen (a little under $97K).

Turley spent the 2021 season pitching for the White Sox Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, posting a 5.02 ERA and 33.1% strikeout rate over 43 relief innings.  Turley’s work was hampered by an 11.6% walk rate, though of the 24 earned runs Turley allowed over his 43 appearances, 15 of those runs were surrendered over just four very rough games.  The Sox never called Turley up to the majors at any point during the year, and the southpaw elected to become a free agent in October.

The 32-year-old has been pitching long enough that his pro career began in a draft round that no longer exists, as Turley was a 50th-round pick for the Yankees way back in 2008.  Turley has tossed 39 1/3 innings (with a career 7.78 ERA) at the Major League level, with 17 2/3 frames for the Twins in 2017 and then 21 2/3 innings for the Pirates in 2020.  In between those two seasons, Turley missed time due to an 80-game PED suspension, and then recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Turley’s 12 pro seasons have taken him to six different MLB organizations and a brief stint in indy ball, and he’ll now head to Japan for a new chapter of his career.  Despite his lack of big league success, Turley has consistently drawn interest due to his high spin rates on his curveball and four-seamer, and his strikeout rates have increased as he has gradually transitioned from starting pitching to bullpen work.  It isn’t out of the question that Turley could see some starting work again with the Carp, depending on how the club intends to use him.

NPB Notes: Cardinals, Martinez, Suarez, Red Sox, Suzuki

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The Cardinals are among the teams with interest in right-hander Nick Martinez, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). Martinez, who will reach free agency at the start of December, is coming off a dominant showing with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Over 140 2/3 innings, the 31-year-old worked to a 1.60 ERA, striking out a quarter of the batters he faced in the process. After a four-season run in Japan, that strong 2021 campaign could earn Martinez another MLB look this offseason. Heyman suggests upwards of a third of MLB teams could join St. Louis in having interest in giving Martinez another opportunity stateside, although it stands to reason the Hawks would like to re-sign their star hurler as well.

A couple more notes on players currently in Japan’s top league:

  • Robert Suárez is on the radar of multiple major league teams, according to a Japanese-language report from Yahoo! Japan (h/t to Sung Min Kim). The 30-year-old has posted incredible numbers serving as the Hanshin Tigers’ closer over the past two seasons. After working to a 2.24 ERA in 52 1/3 innings in 2020, Suárez dominated to the tune of a 1.16 mark across 62 1/3 frames this past season. His peripherals were equally impressive, as the righty struck out 25.3% of opposing hitters against a minuscule 3.5% walk percentage. Suárez has never pitched in the majors but reportedly also caught the attention of big league clubs last winter.
  • The Red Sox are among the teams to have scouted NPB star Seiya Suzuki, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI. They’re certainly not alone in that regard, as the Hiroshima Carp outfielder has long been regarded as one of the top talents in Japan. The Carp will make Suzuki available to major league clubs this winter via the posting system, coming off a season in which the 27-year-old mashed at a .319/.436/.644 clip with 38 homers in 530 plate appearances. Between his youth, huge numbers in NPB, and scouting reports that suggest he could immediately step in as an above-average major league right fielder, Suzuki should be one of the winter’s most in-demand free agents. MLBTR projects he’ll land a five-year, $55MM contract — an investment that would cost an MLB team $65.125MM after accounting for the posting fee that would be owed to the Carp were Suzuki to land a $55MM guarantee.
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