The Toronto Blue Jays are expected to be in the mix for another marquee Japanese bat this offseason, and this one comes with serious thunder.
Outfielder Teruaki Sato has spent the last two years mashing in Japan’s NPB, putting up nearly 80 home runs and more than 200 RBIs over 282 games. At 27, he now appears headed toward MLB free agency after his current team, the Hanshin Tigers, accepted his posting request, according to Kyodo News.
That approval starts a 45-day negotiating window for major league clubs, and Toronto is expected to be one of the teams checking in.
Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins made it clear at their end-of-season press conference that the club wants to strengthen its presence in the Japanese market. Sato would fit that plan neatly.
“The Japanese market will obviously be something we will explore again this winter,” Shapiro said.
Sato is coming off the best season of his career, one that put him squarely in the spotlight. He hit .306 with 39 home runs and 106 RBIs, and he became just the ninth player in NPB history to win the Triple Crown by leading the league in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.
For a Toronto lineup that had trouble bringing runners home last season - the Blue Jays finished last in the majors in that category - Sato would represent an immediate jolt of power. His numbers from this past season would have led every Blue Jays offensive category.
Of course, production doesn’t always carry over cleanly from NPB to MLB. But Toronto’s most recent Japanese addition, Kazuma Okamoto, made the transition work in a big way, leading the Blue Jays with 33 home runs in his rookie year.
The price tag on Sato could be hefty. Toronto gave Okamoto a four-year, $60 million deal last offseason, while potential AL Rookie of the Year candidate Munetaka Murakami landed a two-year, $34 million contract with the Chicago White Sox.
Sato may end up costing even more, with a projection of upwards of $20 million per year. That could complicate things for Toronto if the proposed hard salary cap of $245.3 million is put in place, especially since the Blue Jays are already $8 million over that number.
Yahoo Japan reported that Sato plans to travel to North America in November to meet with interested teams, and baseball fans may have to wait until the end of the month to find out where he signs.
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