The Yomiuri Giants have agreed to a contract with longtime major league first baseman and designated hitter Justin Smoak, the Central League champions said Thursday.
Yomiuri will sign the 34-year-old switch hitter as a free agent from the San Francisco Giants on a two-year deal believed to be worth $3 million per season.
Smoak hit 196 home runs in an 11-year major league career that also included stints with the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. He was an All-Star with Toronto in 2017, when he hit 38 home runs and 90 RBIs.
The 193-cm, 100-kg South Carolina native joins a Giants squad that dominated the CL last season before being humbled in a four-game Japan Series sweep by the Pacific League’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
In a statement through the Giants, Smoak said he looked forward to playing for a club with a strong tradition.
Smoak, who will wear No. 10 for Yomiuri, is scheduled to hold a news conference after arriving in Japan next month, the club said.
The Hawks, meanwhile, announced the acquisition of former Chicago Cubs right-hander Colin Rea.
The 196-cm American, who throws fastballs north of 150 kph along with a variety of breaking balls, pitched in nine big league games last year, going 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA.
The 30-year-old also played for the San Diego Padres and the Miami Marlins, going 8-8 with a 4.79 ERA in 35 major league outings from 2015.
“His steadiness as a starter is appealing to us,” SoftBank General Manager Sugihiko Mikasa said of Rea, after he penned a one-year deal believed to be worth 100 million yen ($968,000).
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Source : Baseball – The Japan Times