The San Diego Padres have had a lot of turnover in the 2023-24 offseason.
They traded Juan Soto, and lost pitchers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha to free agency.
Yet they do seem relatively close to completing a major move.
“The Padres are reportedly closing in on a deal for LHP Yuki Matsui. @StevePhillipsGM breaks down what the southpaw brings to the table following sustained success in the NPB,” MLB Network tweeted.
The Padres are reportedly closing in on a deal for LHP Yuki Matsui.@StevePhillipsGM breaks down what the southpaw brings to the table following sustained success in the NPB. pic.twitter.com/k7zgNv4uxj
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 20, 2023
Matsui is a left-handed reliever who has pitched his whole career in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Phillips said he is the quickest reliever to ever get to 200 saves in Japan.
“He used to be a multi-inning guy, but in the last couple of years has been a one-inning pitcher. He reminds me of John Franco,” he explained.
The former executive and current analyst said that Matsui’s out pitch is an outstanding split, “but he can locate his fastball very well and gets his fair share of swings and misses.”
The reports indicate that this can get done today (on Wednesday) with the Padres.
He is expected to get a long-term deal but much cheaper than, say, Josh Hader will get in the open market.
Of course, the odds of Matsui significantly outperforming Hader are slim, but he could be a solid option and a good value for the Padres.
It’s likely that Matsui gets the closer role if his signing with the Padres ends up happening.
He has accumulated 236 saves in Japan and could log some more in the United States.
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Andres Chavez www.thecoldwire.com MLB,San Diego Padres Rumors And News (Updated Daily),San Diego Padres
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2023-12-20 23:09:09 , San Diego Padres Rumors And News (Updated Daily)
