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Red Sox ink Masataka Yoshida to huge five-year deal
Masataka Yoshida has come to terms on a massive contract with the Red Sox. Kyodo News

Red Sox ink Japanese star Masataka Yoshida to huge five-year deal

According to multiple reports, the Boston Red Sox have comes to terms with Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reports that the deal is for five years and will pay Yoshida $90 million. Meanwhile, the Orix Buffaloes, Yoshida's Nippon Professional Baseball club, will receive a posting fee of $15.4 million, bringing the total cost of Yoshida's deal to $105.4 million. 

The 29-year-old shined in 2022 for the Buffaloes, posting impressive offensive numbers across the board. Yoshida finished with the best on-base percentage (.447) in the Japan Pacific League and second in batting average (.335), slugging percentage (.561), RBI (88) and walks (80). 

Yoshida has shown the ability to get on base seemingly at will, and his bat also provides enough power to be a long-ball threat. 

Playing seven seasons in Japan, Yoshida was the definition of consistency. Over 781 career games, Yoshida slashed .326/.419/.538 with 135 home runs, 474 RBI and 427 walks. 

Yoshida isn't known for his defense, so it's still uncertain where he fits for the Red Sox on the field or if he'll simply DH most of the time. However, regarding the batting lineup, due to the left-hander's on-base skills, he'll likely find himself batting leadoff for Boston. 

Mike Santa Barbara

Mike Santa Barbara is a Wilmington, Delaware native (Yes, it's a real place) with over a decade of sports writing experience. A diehard Philadelphia sports fan, he has two dogs named after Flyers and cried real tears when the Eagles won Super Bowl LII. You can follow him on Twitter at @mike__sb

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