Hideki Matsui is headed back to the Yomiuri Giants, and his first big test could come before he has even settled into the job.
Japanese reports said Friday, Oct. 23, that the 52-year-old former Yankees star is set to become manager of the Giants for the 2027 Nippon Professional Baseball season, with an announcement expected later that day. The move brings Matsui back to the club that drafted him in 1992 and put him on the path to becoming one of Japan’s premier power hitters.
Yomiuri is looking for stability after an unsettled stretch in the dugout and another season that ended without a championship. The Giants finished second in the Central League in 2026 under interim manager Hideki Hashigami, then were knocked out by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the first stage of the Climax Series. They last won the Japan Series in 2012.
Matsui’s return carries real weight for a franchise that has long leaned on iconic former players in the manager’s seat. He follows a line that includes Shigeo Nagashima, Sadaharu Oh, Tatsunori Hara and Yoshinobu Takahashi.
For Yankees fans, though, Matsui will always be tied to one October night in the Bronx. In Game 6 of the 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium, he drove in six runs as New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 to claim its 27th title. He was named World Series MVP after hitting .615 with three home runs and eight RBIs in the six-game series.
His Yankees resume went far beyond that one masterpiece. Matsui played seven seasons in New York from 2003 through 2009, batting .292 with 140 home runs and 597 RBIs in 916 regular-season games. He finished his 10-year MLB career with a .282 average and 175 home runs after stops with the Angels, Athletics and Rays.
Even after his playing days ended, Matsui stayed close to the game. The Yankees brought him back in 2015 as a special adviser to general manager Brian Cashman, and his work included traveling through the minor league system and helping players and coaches with hitting development.
That background matters now because his new job will demand far more than an eye for offense. Matsui is stepping into a full managerial role, with personnel choices, preparation and pitching decisions all on his plate.
One of the first could involve Shoki Oda, the Yokohama High School pitcher Yomiuri selected in the first round of Thursday’s NPB draft. Oda said before the draft that he planned to pursue baseball in North America, either with an MLB organization or at a college. The Giants drafted him anyway, setting up an early test for Matsui in trying to persuade the teenager to begin his professional career in Japan.
It is the kind of challenge Matsui knows from both sides. He once left Yomiuri for New York after building his name in NPB; now he may need to convince a Japanese prospect to do the opposite.
Matsui hit 332 home runs and drove in 889 runs across 10 seasons in Japan, winning three Central League MVP awards and reaching a career-high 50 homers in 2002 before heading to the majors. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018 at age 43 and received Japan’s People’s Honor Award with longtime mentor Shigeo Nagashima in 2013.
The Giants are scheduled to begin their next team activities later this month, and Matsui’s first offseason will already carry decisions that reach beyond the usual manager’s checklist.
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