5:37pm: Yoshida receives a $90MM guarantee, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
5:33pm: It’s a five-year deal worth upwards of $85MM, Passan reports.
5:32pm: The Red Sox are in agreement with outfielder Masataka Yoshida, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Japanese star was made available via the posting system just last week.
Yoshida lands the loftiest guarantee of any position player making the jump from Nippon Professional Baseball to the majors. The record was just set last spring by Seiya Suzuki, who inked a five-year, $85MM deal with the Cubs. Perhaps not coincidentally, Yoshida will edge past that by a million dollars annually.
It’s a massive gamble for the Red Sox, but one they’re prepared to take to add much-needed outfield help. Yoshida has been one of the more accomplished hitters in Japan for the past few seasons. He’s appeared in NPB for the last seven years and carries a career .327/.421/.539 line.