Yuki Matsui, Padres Agree to Reported 5-Year, $28M Contract in Free Agency

The Los Angeles Dodgers aren't the only Southern California team attracting top talent from Nippon Professional Baseball.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that relief pitcher Yuki Matsui had agreed to a five-year, $28 million contract with the San Diego Padres, who later confirmed the deal on X. The deal includes opt-outs after the third and fourth seasons and also has an injury clause that could turn the fifth year into a club option, per Passan.

The 28-year-old southpaw spent his time in the NPB with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, where he earned a 2.40 ERA in 10 seasons with the club.

Matsui was very effective for the Golden Eagles in 2023, sporting a 1.57 across 57.1 innings and registering 72 strikeouts. He could serve as a replacement for star closer Josh Hader, who is currently among the biggest names in the free agent market.

San Diego is in a strange spot. The Padres went 89-73 and reached the NLCS in 2022 but struggled in 2023, going 82-80 and finishing outside of the playoffs. This came despite having the third highest payroll in baseball and led to some changes.

Manager Bob Melvin departed to take the same position with the San Francisco Giants and the Padres dealt away superstar outfielder Juan Soto to the New York Yankees. Additionally, the Los Angeles Dodgers have spent more than a billion this offseason on top talent, including Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glassnow.

This makes the NL West an even more difficult division than it already was but adding a key bullpen arm like Matsui is certainly a step in the right direction for San Diego.