Baseball

Fukuoka – The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks announced the signing Tuesday of free-agent right-hander Kohei Arihara, making his return to Nippon Professional Baseball following a two-year stint with the Texas Rangers. The 30-year-old is expected to be part of the starting rotation for the 2022 Pacific League runners-up following the departure […]

There was a period during the NPB offseason where it felt like almost all of the free agents were going to the same place. The top player on the market, a player trying to rekindle the flame that led him to MLB and others whose play sometimes shone brighter than […]

There was a period during the NPB offseason where it felt like almost all of the free agents were going to the same place. The top player on the market, a player trying to rekindle the flame that led him to MLB and others whose play sometimes shone brighter than […]

Sendai – Rakuten Eagles right-hander Masahiro Tanaka signed for a reported 2023 salary of ¥475 million ($3.6 million) plus incentives on Saturday, taking a huge cut from the ¥900 million he is said to have earned in each of the past two years. The former New York Yankee returned to […]

Shohei Ohtani and Hideki Kuriyama won a Japan Series title together in 2016. In 2023, they’ll take on the world. Kuriyama, the Samurai Japan manager, named the first 12 members of his squad for the upcoming World Baseball Classic on Friday, with the Los Angeles Angels’ two-way star as the […]

KITAHIROSHIMA, Hokkaido – New Boston Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida will play in the March 8-21 World Baseball Classic, Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama said Thursday. The 29-year-old, who signed a reported five-year, $90 million contract with the Red Sox in December, will be taking part in the WBC from the […]

After back-to-back World Baseball Classic semifinal exits, a strong cadre of MLB regulars have put Samurai Japan in a strong position to claim its third tournament title in March and first since 2009. Two-way star Shohei Ohtani, the 2021 American League MVP, veteran starting pitcher Yu Darvish and outfielder Seiya […]

Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed Tuesday for an estimated ¥650 million ($4.9 million) salary next year, making him the highest-paid player in franchise history. His annual pay jumped from this year’s ¥370 million after the 24-year-old right-hander won both the Pacific League MVP and Sawamura awards for the second […]

Dennis Sarfate is eager to see what Kodai Senga can do now that the newly minted New York Mets right-hander finally has his long-coveted shot to pitch in MLB. Sarfate does not only have an interest as a native New Yorker — he was born in Queens, the New York […]

Chiba – Lotte Marines flamethrower Roki Sasaki signed Saturday for an estimated ¥80 million ($608,000) for 2023, his fourth year with the Pacific League club. Sasaki received a raise of ¥50 million from a year earlier, following a season that saw him become the youngest pitcher in Japanese baseball history […]