The San Diego Padres have turned to Japan to reinforce the bullpen. The Padres have signed longtime Rakuten Golden Eagles closer Yuki Matsui to a five-year contract, the team announced Saturday. According to ESPN, the deal is worth $28M, and includes opt outs after the third and fourth years. There’s also an injury clause that can convert the fifth year into a team option.
Matsui, 28, racked up 236 saves in Japan and has been one of the best closers in the league over the last decade. This past season, the left-hander pitched to a 1.57 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings. For his career, Matsui owns a 2.43 ERA while striking out 32.7% of the batters he’s faced. The league average strikeout rate in Japan typically hovers around 19%.
Earlier this month Baseball America said Matsui’s fastball “sits 91-93 mph and touches 95 with riding life up in the zone,” and his “diving 87-90 mph splitter is an above-average pitch that gets ground balls.” They add “Matsui projects to be a low-to-mid leverage reliever handles both lefties and righties.” It’s unclear whether San Diego will put him right into the closer’s role.
Incumbent closer Josh Hader is currently an unsigned free agent and unlikely to return given San Diego’s payroll slashing this offseason. With Matsui now aboard, new manager Mike Shildt’s bullpen looks something like this:
- High leverage: RHP Robert Suarez
- Righty setup: RHP Enyel De Los Santos, RHP Steven Wilson
- Lefty setup: LHP Tom Cosgrove, LHP Yuki Matsui
- Middle: RHP Stephen Kolek, LHP Adrian Morejon
- Long: RHP Luis Patiño
The Matsui signing pushes San Diego’s projected 2024 competitive balance tax payroll to $210 million or so, including arbitration projections. The club was originally expected to field a $200 million roster next year, but The Athletic recently reported the figure could drop below even that. Suarez, Jake Cronenworth, and Ha-Seong Kim stand out as trade candidates in the event the Padres try to slash more payroll.
Matsui is one of several high profile international players coming to MLB this offseason. The San Francisco Giants signed Korean center fielder Jung-Hoo Lee to a six-year contract and the Los Angeles Dodgers added Japanese righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto on a massive 12-year deal. Japanese lefty Shota Imanaga and Cuban righty Yariel Rodriguez remain unsigned.
The Padres went 82-80 and missed the postseason this past season despite fielding a franchise record $248.9 million payroll on Opening Day. The team owes $39.7 million in competitive balance tax, the second-highest bill in baseball.
