Red Sox, Japanese Star Masataka Yoshida Agree To Monster Deal

Masataka Yoshida is a left fielder and left-handed hitter with contact skills and a knack for getting on base. The Boston Red Sox must also pay a posting fee for the Japanese star.

The Red Sox made a major splash Wednesday night, agreeing to a deal with Japanese star Masataka Yoshida.

Boston offered Yoshida a five-year, $90 million deal, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The Red Sox must also pay a $15.4 million posting fee to the Orix Buffaloes, Yoshida’s longtime team in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league.

Yoshida is a left fielder and left-handed hitter who demonstrated strong contact and on-base skills while spending his entire NPB career with the Buffaloes. The two-time NPB batting champion and 2022 Japan Series champion has also improved his power numbers over the years. The 29-year-old recorded a career-high 1.007 OPS last season while hitting .336 with 21 home runs and 89 RBI. He struck out a measly 41 times over 508 plate appearances.

Yoshida fractured his wrist in October after he was hit by a pitch.

According to FanGraphs’ scouting report, “Yoshida is almost impossible to strike out, and his feel for contact is superlative enough that even though a) he's not very physical and b) is a left field-only guy, he's elite at the game's most important skill: hitting.”

Yoshida, who also won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, likely won’t be the only Japanese star taking his talents to the majors this coming season. Pitcher Kodai Senga is also available, but he accrued enough service time to become an international free agent, so he doesn’t have to go through the posting process.

Yoshida was Boston’s second big agreement of the day Wednesday. The team also came to terms with closer Kenley Jansen on a two-year, $32 million deal.