Yankees Icon Hideki Matsui Named Manager of Yomiuri Giants in Japan's NPB

Former New York Yankees World Series MVP Hideki Matsui is launching a managerial career in Japan.

Matsui was announced Friday as the manager of the NPB's Yomiuri Giants. Matsui spent the first 10 seasons of his professional career in Tokyo as a member of the Giants.

Matsui starred for the Giants from 1993 to 2002. He later played 10 MLB seasons, highlighted by seven years and a World Series run with the Yankees, before signing a ceremonial contract to retire as a Yankee in 2013.

He said the No. 90 he will wear as manager is symbolic as a combination of the No. 55 he initially wore with the Giants and the No. 35 he wore in his final MLB season with the Tampa Bay Rays, per Jason Coskrey of The Japan Times.

Matsui was named the 2009 World Series MVP with the Yankees after batting .615 with three home runs and eight RBI in six Fall Classic games against the Philadelphia Phillies.

He had previously won a Japan Series MVP title with the Giants, which contributed to his status as the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame's youngest inductee when he was selected in 2018.

The Giants, who went 76-64 last season, have not won a Japan Series championship since 2012.

Matsui will be tasked with leading the club back to title contention as he looks to succeed Giants acting manager Hideki Hashigami, who took over after former manager Shinnosuke Abe resigned from his position in May.

Matsui's appointment came shortly after the Giants selected pitcher star Shoki Oda in the first round of the 2026 NPB draft.

Oda announced before the draft he intended to skip the NPB in order to pursue an MLB or NCAA career next season.

The Giants could now see if the addition of Matsui could help convince Oda to spend more time in Japan before attempting to launch his playing career in North America.