The 29-year-old Yoshida has been one of the best players in Japan since joining Orix in 2016. Over the course of 762 Games NPB games, the left-handed outfielder has slashed a .327/.421/.539 line with 133 home runs and a wildly impressive 421 walks to 300 strikeouts.

Gaijin Baseball also added that Yoshida’s preference would be to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies, as Bryce Harper is the player that he idolized growing up. Whether there would be mutual interest from the Phillies is unknown at this point.

Last winter, the Blue Jays pursued Seiya Suzuki, the top Japanese free agent available, but he wound up inking a five-year, $85 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. Given the team’s need for a left-handed bat, it would make sense for the Blue Jays to go after Yoshida if he winds up getting posted.

The posting system for Japanese players changed a few years ago and is quite a bit different than it was during the infamous Yu Darvish saga. Back then, teams would make silent auction bids to a player’s NPB team to earn the right to negotiate with that player. Now, players can negotiate with all 30 MLB clubs and their NPB team gets a cut of the contract that they sign.