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

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.