The Padres have signed left-hander Yuki Matsui to a five-year contract, the club has announced. Matsui and the Padres were reportedly close to a deal earlier this week. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Matsui will receive $28MM guaranteed over the life of the contract, which includes opt-outs after the third and fourth seasons of the deal as well as an injury clause that can convert the fifth year of the contract into a club option worth $7MM if Matsui suffers a “serious” elbow injury during the life of the contract.
The deal represents San Diego’s first significant buy-side move of the offseason, and their first major move since trading star slugger Juan Soto and center fielder Trent Grisham to the Yankees earlier this month for a five-player package headlined by right-handers Michael King and Drew Thorpe. It’s a somewhat unusual deal for a reliever; right-hander Robert Suarez’s agreement with the Padres and the record-breaking deal between star closer Edwin Diaz and the Mets, both of which were signed last offseason, are the only contracts for free agent relievers to surpass five years.
Matsui landed at #43 on MLBTR’s annual Top 50 MLB free agents list, where we projected him for a two-year, $16MM deal. Matsui nearly doubled that guarantee, though the average annual value of his deal comes in at just $5.6MM, well below the $8MM MLBTR projected him for over a two-year apct. Despite the unusual length of the deal, the gamble is an understandable one for the Padres to make. The deal covers Matsui’s age-28 through -32 seasons, with his first opt-out opportunity coming after Matsui’s age-30 campaign in 2026. The lowered AAV of the deal was surely particularly appealing to the Padres, who are reportedly hoping to stay under the luxury tax in 2024. Given those financial constraints, Matsui’s deal represents a more cost-effective alternative to reuniting with relief ace Josh Hader, who MLBTR projected for a whopping six-year, $110MM guarantee on the heels of a dominant season as San Diego’s closer.
While Matsui can’t be reasonably expected to match Hader’s incredible production last season (1.28 ERA and 33 saves in 56 1/3 innings), the lefty has put together an excellent career overseas in his own right. Matsui’s spent the past ten seasons pitching for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Tohuku Rakuten Golden Eagles. During his NPB career, Matsui has racked up 236 saves in 501 appearances while earning five All Star nods. In 659 2/3 innings of work during his career, Matsui sports a sterling 2.40 ERA with a 31.9% strikeout rate. He’s been even more impressive over the past three seasons, a combined 1.42 ERA and a 36.4% strikeout rate across 152 innings during that time.
Matsui was a frequent subject of MLBTR’s NPB Players to Watch series throughout the 2023 season, where Dai Takegami Podziewski discussed Matsui’s four-pitch mix that includes a 92-94 mph fastball that touches 96 along with a splitter, slider, and curveball while also noting that Matsui reportedly struggled to adjust to the MLB ball while participating in the World Baseball Classic last spring. Clearly, the Padres were more enticed by Matsui’s deep pitch mix and impressive velocity for a lefty who is listed at just 5’8” and 167 pounds than they were concerned by his struggles to adjust to the ball used in the majors earlier this year.
While the addition of Matsui shores up a Padres bullpen lacking in certainty, there’s plenty left for president of baseball operations A.J. Preller and his front office to do if they hope to return to contention in 2024. Another set-up arm to pair with Matsui and Suarez at the back of the bullpen would be helpful, and at least one more starting pitcher who can step into the void left by the departures of Blake Snell, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, and Nick Martinez this offseason alongside King appears to be all but necessary.
On the hitting side of things, the Padres have just two outfielders on their 40-man roster at the moment in Fernando Tatis Jr. and fourth outfielder Jose Azocar, meaning they’ll need to make multiple additions to the lineup to cover the two vacant outfield spots and DH, which lacks a clear starter following the deal that sent Matt Carpenter and his salary to Atlanta earlier in the month.
That’s a hefty shopping list for any club, but it’s especially daunting for a Padres club that projects for a $210MM luxury tax payroll per RosterResource. If the Padres are indeed intent on staying under the first tax threshold of $237MM in 2024, that gives them just under $27MM of payroll space left to work with this offseason as they look to fill the remaining holes in the lineup and pitching staff. While the addition of Matsui is a step in the right direction that didn’t eat into the club’s financial capabilities too excessively, the Padres clearly still have plenty of work to do before they’re ready to contend in an ever-improving NL West next year.
Bonus deferred till 2087
Their next signing will involve more loan documents. Ahahaha!
finalized! Figured there had to be opt outs
It had to be a Preller opt out here and there and some other peripherals.
angels AND padres? good God, hating the Dodgers really made you a bandwagon simp
Don I said nothing about them. My profile picture somehow triggered you and destroyed your delusions that everyone in Southern California should be a Dodger fan. I don’t care about the dodgers. I grew up an Angels fan then moved to SD and grew to be a fan. Not that that’s any of your business. Have I interrupted your day of trolling people to make you feel better about your pathetic life?
Lay off the booze Ghost
But this is impossible! I have been told over and over the Padres have no money. Maybe this one is coming out of Preller’s own pocket. Maybe Mike Schildt sent a can around the clubhouse for donations…could be a real team effort here.
Kevin Acee… where you at?!
To this point Acee has been 100% correct.
Except for the 97% of time he’s not
Acee hasn’t been correct at all. It’s been widely known padres needed to reset the luxury tax penalty line. And their approach so far has done that. That’s not “gutting payroll” as acee doomsday preached.
How much more payroll would they need to move to meet your subjective definition of “gutting”?
They’d have to trade away 2 of Darvish, Musgrove, Machado, Tatis Jr, Bogaerts – significant long term money on the books.
Not resigning Wacha or Lugo isn’t gutting payroll. Both dealt with injuries last year especially Wacha and are in their mid 30s. Risky investments.
Would love Hader and Snell back but both are gonna be quite expensive. Snell had 1.5 good years in SD. Prior to that he was looked mid rotation. He’s streaky also a risky investment. Hader can also be steaky and wild as well.
Soto is a 1 year rental. Soon as Ohtani got what he got Soto had dollar signs in his eyes. Padres got more than the comp pick they would have gotten.
Buying expensive free agents didn’t amount to much except 1 NLCS appearance. Time to go a different direction- player development.
It would have to be opening day and no changes to the existing team.
Until then, there is no evidence they are gutting payroll.
@Brew …
Preller loves his opt-outs, complete with buyouts to pay guys who choose to quit. I think it may be his own self-loathing and hatred of the West Coast sub-consciously coming out in the contracts he gives out.
Right on…
The Madres under Preller, have been one of the most interesting teams in MLB. Always something going on. You never know who is coming or going.
Cheap!
Was hoping for the Jays.
Seems like a pretty good price for 5 years. Good for them.
5.6m aav for a guy who is 28. Was great in Japan, if he can be half as good in the mlb this is a very good deal.
Yeah this is a great signing for SD! The money compared to 2/26m for Nick Martinez or 2/16 for Emilio Pagan looks like an excellent gamble.
Indeed. If they tried to sign a reliever with those numbers in the states, they’d be paying three to four times this amount. Great signing if Matsui is even half that good stateside. Completely sidesteps the inflated pitching market.
Unless he can’t overcome the grip issue
An intriguing risk, but with that low average annual value I’m not sure why they even bother with the opt outs. Anything above average and he’ll be gone after 2 years. Anything worse and they might as well just say it’s an 18 million dollar surcharge for clearing an aging relief pitcher off their roster.
His opt outs are after years 3 and 4 so if he’s good they’re getting at least 3 years from him.
The answer to Yamamoto
I thought Imanaga would of been the answer to Yamamoto
Padres can’t afford Imanaga.
MlbDodgerfan, um, yes, they can afford him if they wanted. I’m guessing you would know that, unless you’ve only been a fan since 2015, or maybe you were born then, who knows. Get a new argument.
Half joking but they are looking to trim down payroll. Dealing Soto was not to go for it in 2024 or beyond. We kept hearing from Padre fans that Soto was re-signing with them way back. Padres not really in a position to outspend teams for free agent like Imanaga. Unless they’re dumping more salary, and Cronenworth while a terrible contract is not enough of a dump. So yeah they can’t afford Imanaga.
Mostly just a joke
Yamamoto is a starter. This guy is a closer.
Then I hope Yamamoto is not a coffee drinker because coffee is for closers.
Not that kind of closer rct! He may not like coffee anyway, probably green tea.
Why didn’t the Orioles show any interest
They already signed Kimbrel to close.
Dodgers would have signed him for 8 years at 200 mil lol but deferred most of his contract to the year 2050 when the dollar will be so weakened from liquidation and inflation that it would be worth about 5 million total in today’s money.
That’s what the Dodgers are banking on is the economy crashing and our dollar basically becoming the Peso which is smart because that 700 million dollar deal Ohtani signed will be basically worth like 200 mil in today’s money.
No
You should be an economist!
The Rapture will occur before that, no worries.
Well if the rapture takes over 3 years then they still got to live 7 years of the great Tribulation and that means if the rapture is more than 3 years away then the Dodgers will still be on the hook for Ohtani
Good signing.
5?
Preller will go where fools do not dare tread.
Long term for a RP but good value… could be a very nice get
Congratulations Padre fans. You should still be competitive, even with the reshuffle.
Jed Hoyer, where are you? Did you quit without telling Tom Ricketts? This is exactly the kind of guy the Cubs should be all over. They need bullpen help and have no good lefties in their pen as of now. smh
Jed is still in shock Ohtani signed with the Dodgers.
Also, Hoyer getting Craig Counsell is a top tier move to him it seems. I mean I’m happy with that move, but Hoyer needs to get bullpen help. Either sign Hoskins or kick the tires on what Bellinger would cost. Maybe kick the tires on Jordan Montgomery, could use another starter. Kick the tires on Dylan Cease, there are prospects that the White Sox could use.He’s got work to do…
MLBTR was off on AAV by a decent percentage.
This is more like the price range where a guy with no experience in American baseball should be at.
No reliever should ever be signed for more than a two year contract. Anything more is just silly. Relievers are erratic, fungible, and cheap.
@I s of a b
I agree, relievers are like mushrooms.
Yuki Matsui
5-8, 167lb (173cm, 75kg)
The guy is a midget practically. Good luck there Madres!!
Another Japan import signing with a West Coast team, big surprise there.
Isn’t he a pretty good pitcher? Did he low ball himself? I figured he would fwt 5/80 at least.
If he opts out after 3 years, is he a FA or stuck under arbitration.
Good question. I would guess a FA, but it would only be a guess.
Free agent.
This could be a good signing
Nickname: Mini Mite
Being named a 4th outfielder on a 40-man roster that consists of only two outfielders is a new insult I’m here for.
Well that leaves Imanaga as the lone big name Japanese player left to sign. Will be interesting to see when the rest of the decent starting pitchers start to sign among Snell, Montgomery, Giolito, Stroman, Yariel Rodriguez, Lorenzen, Manaea, Montas, and if anybody will take a chance on pariahs Clevinger or Trevor Bauer. If no on the last two, that leaves 9 decent free agents SP’s including Imanaga, pretty much. That isn’t too many, the first 5 or 6 seem a lot better than the rest. I would think several of them could sign in quick succession once one or two are off the board. You would think teams like the Yankees, Mets, and Cubs who missed on Yamamoto should be destinations for some.
Time for Arizona and Colorado to jump in on the Japanese born players. West stocking up big time it seems
I like this signing. I think his Japan numbers will match up around a high 2 maybe low 3 Era in mlb. He’ll perform. Most likely set up guy for Suarez. Extremely tradeable contract if things don’t work out. Grateful job Preller.
Why isn’t the mute button working?
A relief pitcher with a Win /Loss record of 29 W to 47L for a winning percentage of .382 does not impress me, not at all.
They Live!!! People who care about wins and losses for relievers. The thing is, as a great reliever you are gonna be in more opportunities to get a loss than a win. Relievers who get lots of wins are generally 6th inning type guys, longmen, and people who pitch when the team is losing by a little.
Edwin Diaz (.355- yikes)
Josh Hader
Lee Smith
Trevor Hoffman
Dennis Eckersley
Plus many, many more of the greats, have losing records for their career………
It’s the nature of being a closer, you either save the game or lose it.
So lay off the juice They Live.
Which also comes with a 2.43 ERA and 236 saves.
So, Yuki throws
4-Seam Fastball – 52% of the time
Slider – 11% of the time
Curveball – 2% of the time
Forkballs – 35% of the time
Fastball tops out at 92
Slider tops out at 85
Curveball tops out at 76
Forkball tops out at 87
His wOBAcon shows that the curveball gets mashed, which is probably why he doesn’t throw it much.
bo-no05.hatenadiary.org/entry/2023/05/28/180710
Search for 松井 裕樹
Actually his FB averages 92-93 and tops out at 96.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuki_Matsui#:~:text=Matsui….
@Javia135
I apologize for the misunderstanding. Yes, he averages 92/93.
Would love to see his fork. A true fork, a nasty @ss one, will look like a fast knuckle ball and is basically unhittable.
You gotta have big hands to throw a fork. Long fingers. The ball has to slip out of your hand, between your middle and index fingers. Super hard pitch to throw. If you have small/medium hands it is impossible to throw. I tried for years..It won’t work.
Not knowing about NPB it seems to be relievers are the market that is still largely unexplored. Imagine Takashi Saito coming to US at age 26. He’d be a HOFer possibly.
Rishi, So funny you mention Saito! I’ve been thinking about him recently. I feel like he is lost in the pantheon of Dodgers lore..
Heavier balls cause problems.
Fred – don’t I know it!
Or
“That’s what she said”
Well – this is the guy I wanted the Cardinals to sign. But nope. And it makes sense – he isn’t 38 years old. Mo and company like their free agents “well aged.”
Funny the image for this post looks to be the former Padres cap/color scheme before they returned to brown and gold. Kind of entertaining.
> The deal covers Matsui’s age-28
> through -32 seasons,
-32, huh?
Benjamin Matsui.
We’ve seen a couple of Closers come from Japan. Hopefully for the Padres Matsui is more Kazuhiro Sasaki than Shingo Takatsu
Just another Robert Suarez would be fine
Takatsu was 35 his first season in the majors and he pitched well. 2nd in the ROY voting. Overall not a bad 2 years in the majors with a 3.38 ERA.
I am guessing that if the got a 1st season like Takatsu’s 2004 and 3.38 ERA over his 5 seasons that Padres would be quite happy with the Matsui contract.
Which would still be better than Kyuji Fujikawa, another dominant Japanese closer. Unfortunately, despite his fantastic NPB career, he was miserable in the MLB, as he was 1-1 with a 5.74 ERA and 2 saves in 29 games.
The fact Mini Matsui has pitched 704 innings over 10 years though shouldn’t be a concern? Josh Hader although a year older has only pitched 388 innings although that’s over 6 years.
Yamamoto has 967.2 inning over 7 seasons and is 25. Idk if giving a dude 325 mill who’s pitched almost 1,000 innings and never faced mlb hitters over the course of 162 games (30+ starts) was very wise.
You’re also forgetting to include haders minor stats of innings pitched. 946 over the course of majors and minors career
I was discussing Little Matsui. Yamamoto is another discussion. No, I think it’s ludicrous to pay a SP $325M but if the Dodgers are willing to spend it then let’s see what the best Japanese SP can do. If it doesn’t get them 3 World Championships I’d say it was a bust but the Dodgers see the 100 million new fans as being the reason to drop $325M.
He’s not the best. 2nd best.
Who is he 2nd best to❓ Ohtani❓
Roki Sasaki. Kid is absolutely dominate and has better overall stuff than Yamamoto.
Merry Christmas baseball fans.
I might consider drafting him in the 23rd round of my 15 team Gladiator League. There’s only 23 rounds.
Will he be paid in yen or American currency and can you defer yen