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Tuesday, December 06, 2022

Orix Buffaloes Officially Post Masataka Yoshida

The Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball have officially posted outfielder Masataka Yoshida, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. He’ll have 30 days to find a deal with a major league team or else return to the Buffaloes for 2023.

Yoshida, 29, made his NPB debut with the Buffaloes in 2016 and has since established himself as a key contributor at the plate. In 2022, he played in 119 games, hitting 21 home runs and producing an overall batting line of .335/.447/.561. That level of production and Yoshida’s age should lead to him garnering plenty of interest from North American teams. It was reported back in November that this posting was coming, but NPB contracts generally run until the start of December, which delayed the official move until now.

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: December 06, 2022 at 01:45 PM | 9 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: japanese free agents, masataka yoshida

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1. Darren

Posted: December 06, 2022 at 04:42 PM (#6108319)

Fangraphs scouting says he could be a great bench bat, which is pretty disappointing. Is there any consensus on what teams will be willing to pay for him? Looks a lot like Ichiro without the speed (which I know was important to Ichiro in getting infield hits, defense).

2. bookbook Posted: December 06, 2022 at 05:14 PM (#6108325)

Ichiro without the speed. Ouch. I guess there's still bat control, and amazing quotes. But still, if that's all he is, is he worth the posting fee?

3. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: December 06, 2022 at 05:20 PM (#6108328)

I thought people liked his plate discipline, which I have no idea if that translates from NPB to MLB.

4. DCA Posted: December 06, 2022 at 05:23 PM (#6108329)

Ichiro without the speed is better than a bench bat, no?

Yoshida NPB: 326/419/538
Ichiro NPB: 353/421/522

Not a bad comp, but Yoshida is a bit less contact, a fair amount more power than Ichiro. Definitely more of a contact hitter than Fukudome (a not terrible comp, but Yoshida is better).

5. Darren

Posted: December 06, 2022 at 09:02 PM (#6108389)

K/bb numbers are incredible which adds to the Obito comp.

6. Eric J can SABER all he wants to Posted: December 06, 2022 at 09:51 PM (#6108400)

Ichiro without the speed. Ouch. I guess there's still bat control, and amazing quotes. But still, if that's all he is, is he worth the posting fee?

Maybe he wants to hit home runs?

7. Walt Davis Posted: December 07, 2022 at 04:57 PM (#6108592)

Seiya Suzuki NPB: 315/414/570

A pretty perfect superficial comp. His first year with the Cubs was 262/336/433, 116 OPS+, about a 3-WAR pace with slightly negative running and fielding. Suzuki was 27 last year. FWIW (nothing probably), he got off to a fast start showing walks and balanced power then slumped horribly in May then got hurt for June. He was solid in July, blah in Aug, excellent in Sept.

8. Steve Balboni's Personal Trainer Posted: December 07, 2022 at 07:00 PM (#6108609)

Well, the Red Sox were willing to pay $105 (counting the posting fee) over five years to get him, so they obviously think he is better than a bench bat. I know this: He is going to be a lot better than what the team had in the OF last year...

9. Jay Seaver Posted: December 07, 2022 at 07:02 PM (#6108610)

And now with the Red Sox at $17M/year for the next five, which on the one hand seems kind of like a lot for a guy where you've got no idea how his game will translate to MLB (hasn't even played in the WBC). On the other hand, that outfield was, last we checked, Kikê Hernandez, Rob Refsnyder, Alex Verdugo, and Jarren Duran, so I'm not going to complain about what is very likely an upgrade.

Won't be able to wear #34 here, obviously (though apparently he chose that because of Harper).

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Tuesday, December 06, 2022

Orix Buffaloes Officially Post Masataka Yoshida

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