Star nearer Yuki Matsui appears to be like to be curious about a possible transfer to Main League Baseball, as a Yahoo Japan report (Japanese language hyperlink) signifies that Matsui has exercised his worldwide free agent rights, in addition to his rights to freely negotiate with different Nippon Skilled Baseball golf equipment.
Matsui doesn’t flip 28 till later this month, however he has already amassed 10 seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. In consequence, the left-hander is a full free agent, and might be signed by MLB groups with out an extra posting charge to the Eagles. His age and expertise additionally make him exempt from MLB’s worldwide bonus pool construction.
It isn’t essentially a positive factor that Matsui is headed to North America, because the Eagles are reportedly set to supply him a four-year contract price $1.6 billion yen (roughly $10.7MM in USD) to stay within the fold. Nonetheless, Matsui has employed WME’s Bryan Minniti as an agent, which might trace that the southpaw is extra curious about seeing what Main League groups have to supply. Minniti has just lately moved into the illustration enviornment after a protracted entrance workplace profession that included stints as an assistant GM with the Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Nationals.
At the very least 9 Main League golf equipment have already scouted Matsui, together with the Padres, Purple Sox, Cubs, and Yankees. It isn’t shocking that there’s vital curiosity in a pitcher who’s hitting the market at such a comparatively younger age, and who has already amassed such a formidable resume in Nippon Skilled Baseball and on the worldwide stage. Matsui was a member of Japan’s championship staff on the 2023 World Baseball Basic, although he solely made one look throughout the match, throwing a scoreless inning.
Over 501 profession video games with the Eagles, Matsui has a 2.40 ERA and 236 saves, and the five-time NPB All-Star is the youngest participant in league historical past to achieve the 200-save threshold. He has labored out of the bullpen for nearly his total profession, apart from his 2014 rookie season and through a quick return to rotation work throughout the pandemic-affected 2020 NPB season. Matsui’s utilization has additionally been considerably impacted by the Eagles’ struggles, because the staff has principally posted principally shedding data throughout the southpaw’s tenure. With a ten.9% stroll fee over his profession in Japan, management has sometimes been a problem for Matsui, although his 31.85% strikeout fee signifies that his capacity to overlook bats isn’t in query.
Readers of MLBTR’s NPB Players To Watch function are fairly accustomed to Matsui’s title, as Dai Takegami Podziewski had incessantly highlighted the nearer all through the 2023 season. Matsui had a dominant 1.57 ERA over 57 1/3 innings for the Eagles this season, and Dai famous that Matsui made the splitter a a lot heavier a part of his pitching arsenal, maybe as a little bit of a showcase for MLB evaluators.
Nonetheless, Matsui’s small function within the WBC might have been attributable to reported issue he had throwing the WBC ball, which was bigger than the usual ball utilized in NPB play and nearer to the kind of baseball used within the majors. Extra broadly, Matsui has a comparatively small body (5’8″ and 167 kilos), so scouts might have issues over how he may maintain up over the long run, even when he has been fairly sturdy throughout his time with the Eagles.
This winter’s market for left-handed relievers has some fascinating names, headlined by ace nearer Josh Hader. Matsui instantly turns into an intriguing new title on this group, as at the least a candidate for high-leverage innings if maybe not strictly a saves specialist.
