The Boston Red Sox secured Masataka Yoshida for the next five seasons with a massive $90 million contract, the second biggest free agent deal for a Japanese player. The record still belongs to Masahiro Tanaka, who signed a $155 million deal with the Yankees in 2014.
Yoshida is a common name on the international stage after being part of the Samurai Japan squad that won the Premier12 2019 edition. Also, the outfielder is a gold medal winner with Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The 29-year-old star signed the contract less than 24 hours after his club in Japan, the Orix Buffaloes, posted him officially. Yoshida had 45 days to find an MLB team.
Yoshida is a huge NPB star who had in 2022 a career season. Besides leading the Buffaloes to their first win in a Japan Series since 1996, Yoshida led the league on .OBP, finishing second in batting average and third in the hits category.
The Samurai Japan star is projected to be the regular left fielder and first-spot batter for the Red Sox. Boston surely expects a great performance from Yoshida after seeing the All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts depart on the free-agency market.
Yoshida joins the Japanese superstars contingent at The Majors lead by Shohei Ohtani with Seiya Suzuki as the last member before the former Orix superstar.
