Looking for a lefty bat with pop? Tsutsugo is your man. Since 2014, the 6’0 slugger has blasted an average of 30.83 home runs per season while playing for the Yokohama BayStars, peaking with totals of 44 and 38 round-trippers in 2016 and 2018, respectively. The now-28-year-old couples that raw power with the patient approach modern clubs covet, recording a 15.1 percent walk rate over the last four seasons, while also doing a generally acceptable job of limiting strikeouts.

As for his defense? Well, Jason Coskrey of Baseball America recently said he’s “not a terrible fielder by any means, but he’s not a great one either”. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a player who has shuttled between first, third, and left field in a ten-year Nipponese career. Clubs may be wary of committing multiple years, a hefty guarantee, and a posting fee (more on that in a moment) for a player who may end up suited for DH duties.

How about teams in search of a veteran starting pitcher to slot into their rotation’s back end? 32-year-old righty Shun Yamaguchi throws a fastball that sits around 90 mph, with a forkball representing his primary breaking pitch. That surely doesn’t sound like the most glamorous mix of attributes, but what Yamaguchi can offer is a wealth of experience and a good deal of forward momentum. Despite having pitched over 1000 innings stretching between the bullpen and the rotation in an NPB career dating back to 2006, Yamaguchi may have found another gear in 2019.

In addition to posting a 2.91 ERA over 26 starts, his 10.0 K/9 and 3.13 K/BB ratios last season marked personal bests as a starter. This offseason has already been slightly unpredictable when it comes to starting pitching, with Jake Odorizzi foregoing the open market and an inconsistent Kyle Gibson garnering a three-year, $30MM deal from the Rangers. For teams leery of even approaching the market’s top trifecta of starting arms, Yamaguchi, though likely not a world-beater, could represent an appealing value play.

Then there’s the slick-fielding Ryosuke Kikuchi. For teams in need of second base help and defensive improvement in the infield–and there are a few teams who fit within that category–Kikuchi may be a perfect match. The 29-year-old has won every Golden Glove at the keystone in the NPB’s Central League since 2013. While his defensive excellence seems to be universally upheld, there are some persistent questions as to how the bat will travel. Since debuting with the Hiroshima Carp in 2012, the righty swinger has logged a cumulative .271/.315/.391 line across a rather healthy sample of 4695 plate appearances.

Kikuchi’s .261/.313/.406 slash from last year would look acceptable in the majors from a defensively adept second baseman, but such production in the offensively friendly Japanese ranks may give some MLB front offices reason to pause; those that remember the trials of Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Munenori Kawasaki, two other former Golden Glove NPB infielders who proved unable to adapt to MLB pitching, may simply stay away altogether.

Big league teams interested in any of these players will have to pay their parent clubs posting fees proportional to the size of the player’s contract: 20 percent of the first $25MM guaranteed; 17.5 percent of the next $25MM, plus 15 percent of every dollar over $50MM. That release fee is separate from the guarantee itself (for instance, a $25MM guarantee for one of these players would result in an additional $5MM posting fee, bringing the MLB club’s total expense to $30MM).

Performance incentives and contract options will trigger a supplemental 15 percent release fee once unlocked. For a minor league deal, an MLB club will be required to give a parent club 25 percent of the player’s signing bonus, and the player’s MLB salary will be subject to a supplemental posting fee if he is added to the club’s 25-man roster.

Shogo Akiyama probably represents the most well-rounded player expected to make the leap this offseason, and he was the only expected NPB import from this offseason to land within our Top 50 MLB Free Agent list. Considered a true center fielder and leadoff man by most, Akiyama set the NPB single-season record for hits (216) in the 2015 season. He’s won six Golden Gloves in his home country, hit 69 home runs over his last three seasons with the Seibu Lions, and holds a 10.8 percent walk rate since 2016. Two problems: Akiyama will be 32 next April, a rather advanced age for an up-the-middle player, and he suffered a broken bone in his foot during an exhibition on Oct 31 and will need to show he is healthy in order to sign with an MLB team.

There’s certainly a chance some of these players may not come stateside this offseason, but each seems to represent a coveted potential asset in their own right. This year’s free agent market is generally slim pickings when it comes to center fielders, so Akiyama’s availability, in particular, is probably a welcome development for a number of clubs; better yet, he is free to sign a new deal with any club without being subject to the posting system and its concomitant fees.

Still, it’s fair to wonder if he can truly be considered the most viable play here.  Tsutsugo offers immense immense power and relative youth, while there seems to be a fair number of clubs circling starting pitching options like Yamaguchi this offseason.

Which one do you believe is likely to receive the healthiest contract guarantee this winter? (Poll link for app users)

Here are a few other worthwhile links from around the game:

• Overall, MLB player salaries rose from 2017 through 2018, according to the calculations of USA Today Sports. But as Bob Nightengale writes, the average big leaguer is only earning slightly more than he did in the prior campaign — and teams committed far fewer dollars on the open market this offseason than last. What’s most notable, perhaps, is the shiftd away from committing significant future dollars to veteran players. Of course, to really diagnose a trend, we’ll likely need to await the results of next year’s much-anticipated free-agent class.
• The slow-moving free agent action and tepid spending season has obviously been noticed by players and agents, leading to some consternation in some quarters. As Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes (subscription link), there are some who believe that union chief Tony Clark ought to be replaced — perhaps sooner than later given the need to ramp up for new collective bargaining negotiations. Of course, that’s not a universal sentiment, and there’s evidently no clear plan in place even among Clark’s detractors for finding a new leader.
• ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick has published his always-interesting annual survey of key industry players on a variety of interesting subjects. Of particular note, most of Crasnick’s respondents predicted that Bryce Harper would remain in the NL East — with the Phillies trailing the incumbent Nationals as the favorites. Most believed that Clayton Kershaw would ultimately remain with the Dodgers, unsurprisingly, though a decent number felt he may not end up opting out of the final two years of his current contract. These are all just prognostications, of course, but as with the polls we run here at MLBTR, that’s what makes it fun.
• Veteran infielder and noted clubhouse character Munenori Kawasaki seems likely to be at the end of his career after his Japanese club cut him loose. As the AP reports (via the Chicago Tribune), the 36-year-old has evidently been unable to get to full health this spring. He broke into the majors with the Mariners but received his most extensive playing time — and initial notoriety — with the Blue Jays, for whom he provided 597 plate appearances of .242/.326/.301 batting and versatile infield defense over three seasons. Though he did not play much for the 2016 Cubs, he became something of a non-roster part of the team’s World Series run. Of course, Kawasaki spent the bulk of his career in Japan with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. In a dozen campaigns, he carried a .292/.344/.376 slash and swiped 267 bases.

• Utilityman Munenori Kawasaki is heading back to Japan after inking a deal with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, his former NPB club, as Nikkan Sports reports (Japanese language link). The 35-year-old has enjoyed an interesting stint in North America, drawing plenty of attention for his clown prince role in the dugout. But he hasn’t played all that much, particularly over the past two seasons. If this is it for Kawasaki stateside, he’ll stand on a .237/.320/.289 slash line with one single dinger over 738 plate appearances.
• Righty Mark Montgomery has landed a minor-league deal with the Cardinals after being released by the Yankees, Josh Norris of Baseball America reports (Twitter links). The 26-year-old has battled control problems at times, but has also shown his share of promise. Last year, over 45 2/3 innings in the upper minors, he worked to a 2.56 ERA with 12.4 /9 against 4.3 BB/9 while allowing only 31 hits.
• The Indians released slugger Wily Mo Pena, the team announced. The 35-year-old hasn’t played in the majors since 2011, but had been quite productive during a stint in Japan. Over four years with three different NPB clubs, he slashed .264/.355/.460 with 71 long balls. Pena did not play last year and didn’t get much of a look this spring; it’s not clear at this point what his future intentions are.
• Plenty of other players have also been set free by organizations that do not have anywhere to put them. Among them, the Braves have released first baseman Balbino Fuenmayor, MLBTR’s Steve Adams tweets. He has put up big numbers at times, most recently in the Venezuelan winter league, but has yet to receive a shot at the majors. Also hitting the open market, after spending camp with the Rangers, is righty Anthony Carter. (Also per Steve, via Twitter.) The 30-year-old, who’s also looking to stamp a ticket to the majors for the first time, did at least show that he’s back to health. And seven-year MLB veteran southpaw James Russell followed Pena out the door. He was cut loose today by the Indians, per a club announcement.

If Kawasaki isn’t able to find greener pastures, says Wittenmyer, the Cubs would like to bring him back. That’s not surprising given that the veteran utilityman, a noted clubhouse character, accompanied the team on its successful journey to the World Series even though he wasn’t on the postseason roster and had appeared in just 14 regular-season games.

That’s not to say that Kawasaki doesn’t have his uses as a player. He has only seen limited action over the past two MLB seasons, but has taken 738 trips to the plate at the game’s highest level. While Kawasaki has hit just .237/.320/.289 in that span, he is known as a good and versatile defender.

• The Brewers have signed first baseman Cody Decker to a minor league deal, tweets Tommy Stokke of FanRag. The pact doesn’t include an invitation to big league camp, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter link). Decker announced (via Twitter) that he’ll move to catcher, where he has seen action in 23 games during parts of eight minor league seasons. The 29-year-old has slashed an impressive .255/.333/.501 in 1,498 Triple-A plate appearances, though he has only logged eight PAs in the majors (with San Diego in 2015).
• The Cubs have signed catcher Carlos Corporan and re-signed infielder Munenori Kawasaki to minor league contracts. Corporan spent several years as a backup in Houston and last appeared in the Majors in 2015 with Texas; he hit .197/.246/.333 at two Triple-A stops in 2016. The 35-year-old Kawasaki played briefly for the Cubs last season and spent most of the year playing shortstop with Triple-A Iowa, where he batted .255/.352/.312. The popular former Blue Jays infielder has now appeared in parts of five seasons in the big leagues, as well as 11 in Japan.
• The Red Sox have signed outfielder Brian Bogusevic to a minor league deal. The 32-year-old had a tough season with Orix in Japan in 2016, batting just .187/.320/.322 over 193 plate appearances. He last appeared in the big leagues with the Phillies in 2015.
• The White Sox have released hard-throwing righty Jorge Rondon so that he can sign with Chunichi in Japan. They had previously signed him to a minor league deal after he posted a 2.67 ERA, 5.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 pitching in the bullpen of the Pirates’ Triple-A Indianapolis bullpen in 2016.
• The Angels have re-signed lefty reliever Cody Ege to a minor league deal. They had previously non-tendered him even though he had far less than three years of service time and was very effective in 8 2/3 innings for them last season, although he struggled in three innings with the Marlins and posted a modest 4.50 ERA, 7.2 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 in 44 innings at Triple-A.
• The Phillies have signed righty reliever Pedro Beato to a minor league deal. The 30-year-old Beato was very effective for Triple-A Norfolk in 2016, with a 2.65 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 68 innings (although he allowed nine unearned runs). He’s pitched in the big leagues for three teams, but hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2014 and hasn’t logged significant time since he was a Met in 2011.
• The Nationals have signed reliever lefty Josh Outman to a minor league deal. The 32-year-old last pitched in the big leagues in 2014, when he appeared with the Indians and Yankees. He posted a 4.95 ERA, albeit with 6.8 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9, in 20 innings with Indianapolis in 2016 before being released.
• The Tigers have signed first baseman Efren Navarro to a minor league deal. The 30-year-old batted .275/.337/.368 at two Triple-A stops in 2016. He’s appeared in parts of four big-league seasons, all with Anaheim.

• Utility infielder Munenori Kawasaki has been added to the Cubs 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A, tweets Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago. Kawasaki, 34, will serve as middle infield depth. While he’s never been known for his bat, he generally draws positive defensive reviews at shortstop, second base, and the hot corner. Despite a lack of power, he’s also known for posting high walk rates and tolerable strikeout rates.
• Two notable minor league signings occurred earlier in the day. The White Sox inked starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez. He was released by the Orioles earlier in the week. Meanwhile, the Angels signed reliever Neal Cotts. He was cut loose by the Astros over a week ago.
• A bevy of players were designated for assignment earlier today. Check out the MLBTR DFA Tracker to learn all the latest.

10:43am: The Cubs have released Shane Victorino, Manny Parra, and Munenori Kawasaki, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports (Twitter links). Chicago has interest in reaching new deals with all three, but obviously wasn’t willing to add them to the active roster or pay the $100K roster bonuses that each would have commanded as an Article XX(B) free agent.

Victorino had already been told he wouldn’t make the active roster, and is reportedly taking an opportunity to rehab his injured calf before moving onto the Triple-A roster. The other two players also seemed like longshots to crack a deep Cubs roster coming into the spring. Parra, 33, has had his moments as a southpaw pen piece, but was looking up at Travis Wood and Clayton Richard in the organization’s pecking order. Things were even tougher for the defensive-minded Kawasaki, who was buried behind multiple infielders.

The entirety of the the 34-year-old Kawasaki’s Major League career has come with the Mariners and Blue Jays over the past four seasons, during which time he’s batted a combined .234/.314/.284 while seeing time at second base, third base and shortstop. Kawasaki brings a light bat, to be sure, but his exuberance in interviews and over-the-top sense of humor made him a favorite of both fans and teammates alike over the course of his time with the Blue Jays.

The Cubs, of course, have plenty of talent around the infield, so Kawasaki is simply a depth addition for them. Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Ben Zobrist will man third base, shortstop and second base, respectively, for the Cubs in 2016, and the team also has Javier Baez, Tommy La Stella and Arismendy Alcantara as additional infield options.

Valencia, 30, is in the midst of a strong offensive season, hitting .296/.331/.506 in 173 plate appearances. With Devon Travis on the DL, though, the Jays were short in the middle infield, so Kawasaki will join the team instead. It’s still a bit surprising that the Jays would designate Valencia, however, given that the addition of Lowe will leave them with 13 pitchers on their staff. Valencia is making just $1.68MM this year, and he could become an attractive target in a trade or on the waiver wire, given his strong hitting this season (even if it’s somewhat out of character) and his ability to hit lefties and play third base, first base and outfield. He has also appeared in three games at second for the Jays this year.  Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos says he expects Valencia will be claimed, as Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets.

Carerra, 28, was batting .279/.327/.374 in 164 plate appearances this year. He became somewhat superfluous, however, with the Jays’ trade for fellow lefty hitter Revere. Carrera is a career .259/.311/.349 hitter in parts of five seasons also spent with the Indians, Phillies and Tigers.

Here’s more on the Blue Jays…

• The Blue Jays announced last night that rookie sensation Devon Travis has been placed on the 15-day DL with inflammation in his shoulder. Travis’ DL stint is back-dated to when he last played on May 17. There’s no indication that Travis is slated to miss a large chunk of time, so it seems likely that he could return to the club in early June. In the meantime, Toronto has selected the contract of fan favorite utility infielder Munenori Kawasaki, who will join the club for tonight’s series opener in Seattle. The 33-year-old Kawasaki has batted .244/.327/.302 over the past two seasons in part-time duty with Toronto.
• In a notebook piece from last night, Davidi writes that manager John Gibbons feels that Daniel Norris isn’t far from a return to the Majors. “His last outing was pretty good,” said Gibbons. “We just want to see that a couple of times, a few times maybe, for his own benefit. … We’re looking to get him back. He got here so quick, he started to struggle, you want to make sure what you did by sending him down was worthwhile, that he’s regrouped enough, instead of rushing him back.” Norris has a 2.50 ERA with 20 strikeouts against nine walks in 18 innings since his demotion to the minors.
• Also of note on the prospect front for Jays fans, assistant GM Tony LaCava said that Jeff Hoffman’s pro debut was a success, as his fastball topped out at 99 mph and he was able to throw five innings in his first start. Hoffman, selected ninth overall in the 2014 draft, didn’t pitch for the Jays last season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He was thought to be a potential No. 1 overall pick prior to his injury.
• Davidi’s colleague, Ben Nicholson-Smith, hosted his weekly Blue Jays chat this afternoon and discussed a number of trade scenarios, R.A. Dickey’s future with the team beyond 2015 and a the number at which Roberto Osuna’s innings should be capped.

MLBTR’s Jeff Todd ran down a list of this year’s Article XX(B) free agents earlier in the month, and we’re now arriving at the juncture of Spring Training where decisions must be made on these players — the deadline will come at 11am CT tomorrow. Many such players have already been released or granted their release today (some will re-sign with the teams that released them, as Chris Perez did in Milwaukee), but here are updates on players who were paid this bonus or learned that they’ve made their respective teams…

• Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that utility man Kelly Johnson has made the Braves’ 25-man roster. Johnson inked a Minor League pact that included a yet-unreported base salary. His versatility, the organization’s familiarity with him and the fact that the 32-year-old slashed a hefty .273/.396/.523 with a pair of homers in 54 plate appearances this spring likely all factored into the decision.
• The Nationals will pay left-hander Rich Hill the $100K retention bonus, tweets James Wagner of the Washington Post. The 35-year-old yielded a pair of runs in 7 1/3 innings this spring and will give the Nats some left-handed relief depth. Of course, the Nats also just traded away some lefty relief by dealing out-of-options southpaw Jerry Blevins and his $2.4MM salary to the Mets.

Earlier Updates

• Padres catcher Wil Nieves has received a $100K retention bonus, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Nieves is still in the running for the team’s backup catching slot, Lin adds. Tim Federowicz was slated to be the team’s backup, but knee surgery has sidelined him for the next several months. The team must make a final call by this Sunday.
• The D-Backs and catcher Gerald Laird and agreed to a five-day extension that will allow him to remain in big league camp, reports Jack Magruder of FOX Sports Arizona (on Twitter). Zach Buchanan of the Arizona Republic adds some clarity, noting that Laird still received the $100K retention bonus but will have the opportunity to fight for a roster spot (Twitter link). The five days will give the Snakes a bit more time to determine whether or not they want to take the veteran Laird north with them to open the season.
• The Blue Jays have paid the $100K retention bonus to both Johan Santana and Munenori Kawasaki, tweets Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. Both players were on Minor League deals, but Santana didn’t get into a game with the big league club as he continued to rehab from injury. Kawasaki hit .333/.481/.571 in 27 plate appearances but didn’t make the big league roster. He’ll head to Triple-A and wait for a call to the Majors in an organization with which he is quite familiar and where he is quite popular among the coaches and his teammates.
• Right-handers Brad Penny and Jesse Crain both received retention bonuses from the White Sox, Passan also reports (on Twitter). The duo will remain in the Minors in the hopes of a spot opening with the big league club. Penny struggled to a 6.89 ERA in 15 2/3 innings this spring, though little can be gleaned from such a small sample, and he did issue only four walks along the way. Crain, like his former Twins teammate Santana in Toronto, didn’t pitch in a big league game as he continued to rehab from injuries that cost him the entire 2014 season in Houston.
• Both Geovany Soto and Matt Albers, on the other hand, have made the White Sox’ roster and will be added to the 40-man, Passan reports in the aforementioned tweet. Presumably, Soto will be in the mix for everyday at-bats behind the plate following a strong spring performance. Albers will slot into the bullpen and bring an experienced arm to serve as a right-handed setup option. Soto’s base salary is an unknown, wheres Albers stands to reportedly receive a $1.5MM base for making the club.

Kawasaki, a fan favorite due to his affable nature and quirky sense of humor, has batted .244/.327/.302 in 563 plate appearances for the Blue Jays over the past two seasons. The versatile 33-year-old is known more for his glove than his bat and is capable of handling second base, shortstop and third base.

• The Blue Jays asked the Diamondbacks about both left-hander Wade Miley and outfielder Mark Trumbo earlier this winter, Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun reports.  Arizona, in turn, asked for some of the Jays’ young pitching in return.  Interestingly, the Jays didn’t plan on keeping Trumbo, but rather flipping him to the Mariners for Michael Saunders, a player Toronto landed anyway by dealing J.A. Happ to Seattle.
• Also from Elliott, the Jays have looked into signing free agent relievers Pat Neshek and Luke Gregerson.  Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi also notes that the Astros and Yankees are among the other clubs interested in Gregerson’s services.
• The Blue Jays are one of three teams who have spoken to veteran reliever Kyle Farnsworth, Davidi reports.
• Munenori Kawasaki has looked into options in Japan and may now be considering returning in North America on a minor league deal, according to Davidi.  The Blue Jays would seem to be natural candidates to bring Kawasaki back, though manager John Gibbons wasn’t sure what was going on between the team and the infielder.

• Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos preached flexibility yesterday.  According to Davidi, Anthopoulos said, “We’re going to try to take the best player available, and we’re not locked into one thing, like we need a defender at first base, we need a pure DH. It depends on what becomes available to us.”  Edwin Encarnacion can be deployed at first base or DH, while third base could be opened up by using Brett Lawrie at second.
• Martin, a Canada native, turned down the Blue Jays before the 2010 season because the Yankees offered more playing time behind the plate, according to Davidi.  Davidi feels that of all the Blue Jays rumors, Martin may be the one with the most substance.
• The Jays are looking at Anthony Gose and Kevin Pillar in center field next year, barring a trade.
• Infielder Munenori Kawasaki is leaning toward a return to Japan, but Davidi says he might be swayed by a Major League contract.
• The Jays called the Phillies about Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, and Antonio Bastardo, according to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun.

Kottaras, 31, batted a strong .233/.351/.533 with three homers in 38 plate appearances between the Indians, Cardinals and Blue Jays this season. Two of those homers came as a member of the Indians in his first game of the season.

The journeyman catcher has always shown plus plate discipline and plus power but low batting averages, as evidenced by his .215/.326/.411 career batting line. Kottaras has struck out in 23.7 percent of his career plate appearances, but that number has jumped to 35.3 percent over the past two seasons (164 PA). Defensively speaking, he’s thrown out just 18 percent of opposing base-stealers in his career, and pitch-framing metrics haven’t been kind to him.

Kottaras and Johnson have both elected free agency, per the Blue Jays, while Kawasaki has yet to do so. Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star tweets that Kawasaki will likely do the same thing that he did last offseason: seek a Major League deal elsewhere but return to the Blue Jays as a minor league free agent if he is unable to find one.