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Trey Wingenter Signs With NPB’s Seibu Lions

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The Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball announced that they have signed right-hander Trey Wingenter, relayed by Yakyu Cosmopolitan. Salary figures for the Ballengee Group client were not disclosed.

Wingenter, 31 in April, has shown potential in his North American career but without really cementing himself as a major leaguer over a long stretch. His biggest chunk of big league playing time was with the Padres in 2018 and 2019. In that time, he tossed 70 innings for the Friars, allowing 5.14 earned runs per nine innings. His 33.1% strikeout rate was impressive but he also gave out free passes at a 13% clip.

He then spent a long time in the wilderness, as Tommy John surgery and some back surgeries prevented him from pitching in the majors from 2020 to 2022. In 2023, he was back in the bigs with the Tigers, but right shoulder tendinitis put him on the injured list for almost half the year. He finished the year with a 5.82 ERA in 17 big league appearances, though he may have been unlucky in that sample. His .333 batting average on balls in play and 64.7% strand rate were both on the unfortunate side, leading to a 3.43 SIERA and 3.96 FIP as he struck out 28.9% of batters faced and limited walks to a 9.2% clip.

In 2024, he re-signed with the Tigers on a minor league deal but didn’t get called up to the majors with them, eventually bouncing to the Red Sox and Cubs. He only logged 8 1/3 big league innings last year and allowed nine earned runs in that small sample, getting non-tendered by Chicago at season’s end. His minor league numbers on the year were more intriguing, however. Between the three clubs, he tossed 48 1/3 Triple-A innings last year with a 2.98 ERA, 35.9% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate.

If Wingenter had stayed in North America this year, he likely would have been limited to another minor league deal. Even if he got a roster spot at some point, he may have had a hard time hanging onto it since he exhausted his final option year in 2024. Instead, he’ll head overseas and join the Lions. Though the salary figures weren’t reported, it’s possible he locked in a nice guarantee that he would not have found in affiliated ball. If he can turn the opportunity into a solid season, perhaps he can parlay that into a return to North America or another contract in Asia for the 2026 season.

Dodgers Meet With Roki Sasaki

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Reports regarding a number of clubs meeting with right-hander Roki Sasaki have trickled out in recent weeks, with the Mets, Yankees, Cubs, Giants, and Rangers all reportedly having received an in-person meeting with the right-hander as his unusual free agency begins to play out. Those five clubs have now been joined by a sixth, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports that the Dodgers have had an in-person meeting with the top international player available to teams this winter.

It’s hardly a surprise to hear that the Dodgers have met with the 23-year-old phenom. L.A. and San Diego have been viewed by many as clear favorites to land the right-hander since before it was clear he would be posted this winter and the chatter connecting Sasaki to the Dodgers in particular became loud enough that Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, issued a strong denial of the notion that a “handshake” agreement has already been reached with the club. MLBTR’s Steve Adams and Tim Dierkes were present for later comments by Wolfe regarding Sasaki’s free agency made at the Winter Meetings in Dallas, wherein Wolfe first revealed that a preliminary round of in-person visits at a central location would be taking place shortly after the Winter Meetings had come to a close. At the time, Wolfe noted that Sasaki planned to head back to Japan for a week or two afterwards to celebrate the holidays before returning for additional visits with teams ahead of the end of his posting window next month.

Given that timeline, any meetings that have occurred between Sasaki and teams to this point in the winter are likely to have been preliminary in nature, offering Sasaki an opportunity to become more familiar with the organizations he had at least some level of interest in. The reported group of six clubs to have reached that stage is not necessarily exhaustive, and it’s entirely possible that other clubs met with Sasaki prior to the holidays without the meeting being reported publicly. That could include the Padres, who have long been considered a potential front-runner for Sasaki’s services alongside the Dodgers.

The 23-year-old’s combination of incredible talent and unique circumstances figure to make him perhaps the single most sought-after player available this winter. The righty’s career 2.10 ERA in 394 2/3 NPB innings as a 23-year-old with his prime still ahead of him would surely land him firmly in the conversation for a massive payout in free agency on the heels of Sasaki’s countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto landing a 12-year, $325MM deal with the Ddogers last winter via the posting system. That sort of financial windfall won’t be available to Sasaki, however, as he is less than 25 years old and is therefore considered an international amateur per the rules of MLB. That means he’ll be signing a minor league contract with a bonus restricted to the signing club’s international bonus pool space, a reality which essentially removes the financial advantages and disadvantages clubs normally contend with in free agency. Shohei Ohtani famously went through the same process when he first jumped to MLB, and in doing so surprised the baseball world by landing with the Angels.

Virtually any team could benefit from adding a pitcher with Sasaki’s talent to their rotation, and the Dodgers are of course no exception. Even after signing Blake Snell to a five-year deal earlier this winter with veteran Clayton Kershaw widely expected to reunite with the club later in the offseason, the Dodgers’ rotation is severely lacking in certainty. Snell, Kershaw, Ohtani, Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May is a formidable group of hurlers who could all generate All-Star caliber performances in 2025, but each has major injury concerns attached to them and cannot be counted on for anything close to 30 starts in a season. Adding Sasaki to the mix would give the club yet another high-quality rotation option to work with, and the on-paper excess of starting pitching options should make it easy for L.A. to manage the right-hander’s innings after he was slowed by shoulder and oblique injuries of his own in recent years while pitching for NPB’s Chiba Lotte Marines.

NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fighters Re-Sign Drew VerHagen

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The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan announced yesterday that they’re bringing back righty Drew VerHagen on a one-year deal. The Vayner Sports client first joined the Fighters on a one-year contract with a 2025 player option last winter. While it seems he explored free agent possibilities in lieu of the player option, he elected to return to Hokkaido all the same.

VerHagen divided the ’24 season between the Fighters and their minor league affiliate. He posted similarly solid numbers at both stops. The 34-year-old tossed 49 innings of 3.12 ERA ball at Japan’s top level and managed a 3.06 mark across 47 minor league frames. He fanned a slightly above-average 20.6% of NPB opponents against a 5% walk rate.

That was VerHagen’s third season with the Fighters overall. He pitched for the team between 2020-21 and now carries a 3.44 earned run average in 256 2/3 NPB innings. Around the separate stints in Japan, he has appeared in parts of eight MLB campaigns. VerHagen worked as long reliever for the Tigers between 2014-19. He returned to the majors in 2022 for a two-season run with the Cardinals. After posting a 6.65 ERA during his first year in St. Louis, he rebounded with a 3.98 mark across a career-high 61 innings in 2023.

Rangers Met With Roki Sasaki, Giants “Believed To Have Met” With Sasaki As Well

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Roki Sasaki won’t be eligible to officially sign with an MLB organization until mid-January, but that hasn’t stopped him from making headlines in December. Last week, it was reported that the NPB phenom had met with at least three MLB teams: the Yankees, Mets, and Cubs. Today, Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young confirmed that representatives from his club met with Sasaki last week (per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). Meanwhile, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports the Giants are “believed to have met” with Sasaki and his representatives.

It comes as no surprise that both teams are interested in Sasaki. The Giants could use more starting pitching, and they’re likely to add at least one starter this offseason, whether it’s Sasaki or someone else. The Rangers, on the other hand, already have a full rotation, but regardless, Sasaki is the kind of player any team would make room for. The two-time NPB All-Star is widely considered one of the most promising young pitchers in the world, and his earning potential is capped by the rules of international amateur free agency. As of right now, Texas can’t pay him any more than a $6,261,600 bonus, while San Francisco can’t offer him more than a $5,146,200 bonus.

The Rangers have long had an eye on Sasaki. At the beginning of the 2024 season, they were one of eight teams that reportedly sent representatives to watch Sasaki pitch in Japan. One can also understand why Sasaki would be interested in joining their club. Not only are the Rangers recent World Series winners, but they have been one of the most active teams this offseason on both the trade and free agent markets. Furthermore, Sasaki’s agent Joel Wolfe recently mentioned that Sasaki grew up “idolizing” numerous Japanese pitchers who made the jump from NPB to MLB. The first example Wolfe named was Yu Darvish, who signed with the Rangers when he first arrived stateside in 2012. Evan Grant points out that a pair of front office executives who were “key” in signing Darvish, assistant general manager Josh Boyd and Pacific Rim Operations Director Joe Furukawa, are still working in the organization.

As for the Giants, POBO Buster Posey has been particularly vocal about his interest in Sasaki. Speaking at the Winter Meetings, he told reporters (including Maria Guardado of MLB.com), “We’d be over the moon to add a guy like that.” While Posey only spoke of Sasaki’s talent, one has to presume he’s also captivated by the price tag. The Giants have been closely linked to free agent Corbin Burnes this winter. But Burnes is presumably looking to sign a contract worth well over $200MM. According to Susan Slusser, there are questions about whether or not ownership will be willing to foot that bill. In Sasaki, the Giants could add a top-of-the-rotation starter for a fraction of the market price.

From Sasaki’s point of view, it’s worth noting that San Francisco is much closer to Japan (and has a bigger Japanese population) than New York, Chicago, or Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. Neither Sasaki nor Wolfe has suggested the pitcher has a geographic preference for where he signs, but Giants general manager Zack Minasian has expressed hope that San Francisco’s relative proximity to Japan will make “a big difference” (per Guardado). Minasian also mentioned the pitcher-friendly confines of Oracle Park as a potential draw. After all, Sasaki is used to pitching in a very different offensive environment – runs are harder to come by in NPB. What’s more, he is presumably looking to put up numbers that are as impressive as possible. Six years in the future, those numbers will help him cash in big as an unrestricted free agent.

Ultimately, we still know very little about what Sasaki’s thinking or where he might end up. The Dodgers and, to a lesser extent, the Padres are frequently cited as the front-runners to sign him, but it’s not for nothing that he has met with so many other teams. (Nor is it clear if he has met with either the Dodgers or Padres yet.) Slusser identifies the Diamondbacks as another NL West suitor for his services, though it’s unclear if he has met with anyone from the team. Meanwhile, the Phillies are the only club we know for certain has not met with Sasaki. Last week, POBO Dave Dombrowski revealed that although the Phillies would love to speak with Sasaki, they have not been invited to do so.

Mets Meet With Roki Sasaki

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December 20: The Cubs are going to be meeting with Sasaki today, reports Bruce Levine of 670 The Score.

December 19: The Mets had a meeting with Roki Sasaki on Thursday, reports Andy Martino of SNY. They’re the second team that has been publicly revealed to meet with the NPB star. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) on Wednesday that Sasaki had scheduled an in-person meeting with the club. It’s not clear when that will take place.

Virtually every team would love to land Sasaki. It stands to reason that most, if not all, clubs have at least prepared a pitch they can make to the 23-year-old righty. Sasaki and his representatives at Wasserman presumably don’t intend to meet with every team over the next few weeks, though.

Agent Joel Wolfe spoke with media (including MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes and Steve Adams) at the Winter Meetings. Wolfe indicated that Sasaki would speak with teams in person at a central location in the United States throughout this week. He’s slated to return to Japan for the holidays but could come back to the U.S. to view the cities of the finalists thereafter.

This is only the first run of presentations. Many people consider the Dodgers or (to a lesser extent) the Padres to be the favorites, though Wolfe vehemently denied last month that there was any kind of handshake agreement with Los Angeles already in place. Wolfe suggested at the Winter Meetings that Sasaki could benefit from landing in a city that doesn’t have a large media contingent, though he stressed that was solely his opinion and that he and Sasaki had yet to discuss that in great detail.

Sasaki’s posting window opened on December 9. He must sign with an MLB team by January 23 but cannot sign until after next year’s international amateur period opens on January 15. He could reach an unofficial verbal agreement before that point, however. Sasaki’s bonus will be hard capped by MLB’s amateur signing limitations.

Teams can acquire up to 60% of their bonus allotment via trade. Those trades cannot begin until the 15th. Sasaki’s maximum potential bonus would be $12.0888MM. He’ll likely sign for a fair bit less than that, since it’d require a team with the highest initial pool (one of Milwaukee, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Miami, Cincinnati, Detroit, or the Athletics) to trade for the maximum amount and commit their entire pool to Sasaki. The Yankees and Mets each have just under $6.2616MM in their starting pool. If they traded for 60% more space, they’d be able to offer just over $10MM.

Nick Nelson Signs With NPB’s Hanshin Tigers

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Right-hander Nick Nelson has signed with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per an announcement from Beverly Hills Sports Council, his agency. It’s a one-year deal worth $1MM plus incentives. Phillies Tailgate reported last week that the two sides were in negotiations.

Nelson, 29, pitched in each of the past five major league seasons but without sustained success. He logged 114 1/3 innings for the Yankees and Phillies, allowing 5.20 earned runs per nine. His 23.1% strikeout rate and 42.6% ground ball rate were both close to average but he gave out walks at a high rate of 12.9%.

As is often the case with players heading overseas, the minor league numbers are a bit more interesting. A starter for most of his minor league career, he worked primarily in relief in 2021. He tossed 52 Triple-A innings that year with a 3.81 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate, 12.3% walk rate and 53.6% ground ball rate.

In 2022, he was kept in the majors, tossing 68 2/3 innings with a 4.85 ERA. The Phils tried stretching him out in 2023, which didn’t go especially well. He made 20 Triple-A starts but with a 4.35 ERA, 17.7% strikeout rate, 9.9% walk rate and 49.3% ground ball rate. A return to a primary relief role in 2024 didn’t immediately get him back on track, as he threw 54 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 6.13 ERA, 18% strikeout rate, 11% walk rate and 41.6% ground ball rate.

Nelson exhausted his final option year in 2024. The Phillies outrighted him off their 40-man twice late in the year, once in August and once in September. He didn’t have a roster spot at season’s end and elected free agency.

Had he stayed in North America for the 2025 season, he likely would have been looking at minor league deals, having to fight for a roster spot. By heading to Japan and joining the Tigers, he locks in a nice payday above the MLB league minimum, which will be $760K next year. If he takes advantage of his new opportunity, he could parlay that into a raise with the Tigers or perhaps attempt a return to North American ball down the line, following the path of guys like Miles Mikolas and Colin Rea.

Naoyuki Uwasawa Signs With NPB’s SoftBank Hawks

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Right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa’s foray into North American ball will come to a close after one season. The SoftBank Hawks of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball announced this week that they’ve signed the 30-year-old righty to a four-year contract (link via The Mainichi).

Uwasawa signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Rays last offseason as he looked to make the jump to Major League Baseball on the heels of a nice nine-year run with NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fighters. He only spent spring training with Tampa Bay, however, as he triggered an assignment clause in his minor league deal at the end of camp when he was told he wouldn’t make the team. That prompted a trade to the Red Sox, who sent cash back to the Rays and selected Uwasawa to the 40-man roster the following day.

Uwasawa only wound up pitching in two games with Boston. He gave the Red Sox four innings of one-run ball across those two appearances but didn’t get a longer look, due in large part to his struggles down in Triple-A Worcester. The soft-tossing righty was hammered for a 7.63 ERA over 59 1/3 innings, during which time he fanned 16.8% of his opponents against a 12.9% walk rate. For a pitcher who was never a big strikeout arm in Japan but offset the lack of punchouts with sharp command, the walks were as uncharacteristic as they were problematic.

The Red Sox passed Uwasawa through waivers unclaimed in July. He was assigned outright to Triple-A and became a minor league free agent at season’s end. While there may have been some interest from other MLB clubs on a minor league deal, a four-year guarantee to return home to Japan understandably appears to have been too tempting for the right-hander to overlook.

Uwasawa will head back to Japan and look to build on what’s already a fine track record in NPB. He’s pitched 1118 1/3 innings at Japan’s top level and turned in a 3.19 ERA, a 70-62 record, a 19.7% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate (though his strikeout rate has dwindled as his walk rate has improved further in recent NPB seasons).

Trey Cabbage To Sign With NPB’s Yomiuri Giants

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Dec. 17: Cabbage will sign with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, reports Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Dec. 16: The Pirates released first baseman/outfielder Trey Cabbage, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports that Cabbage will pursue an opportunity in a foreign league. That opens a spot on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster, which drops to 37.

Pittsburgh claimed Cabbage off waivers from the Astros last month. Houston had attempted to outright him off their roster at the beginning of the offseason. Cabbage could’ve battled for a spot in Spring Training with the Bucs, but there was no guarantee he’d have stuck on the roster all winter. Even if he’d held the 40-man spot, Cabbage has an option remaining and might’ve spent most of next year in Triple-A.

It seems his camp is finalizing a deal with a team in another league that’d presumably come with a better payday. Cabbage has an intriguing power-speed combination. He had a 30-30 showing with a .306/.379/.596 slash in Triple-A with the Angels in 2023. His minor league production wasn’t quite as strong this year (.243/.351/.474) but he made a career-high 45 MLB appearances with the Astros. MLB pitching has exploited Cabbage’s propensity for huge strikeout totals in the upper minors, fanning him at a near-41% clip. He’s a career .209/.245/.331 hitter in 147 big league plate appearances.

Orioles Sign Tomoyuki Sugano

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The Orioles signed longtime NPB star Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year contract on Monday evening. Sugano, a client of VC Sports Group, is reportedly guaranteed $13MM. Baltimore had an opening on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.

Sugano makes the jump to Major League Baseball for the first time in what’ll be his age-35 season. He’s one of Japan’s most accomplished pitchers. The 6’1″ right-hander spent 12 years with the Yomiuri Giants in his home country. He posted a 2.43 earned run average in more than 1800 innings at the NPB level.

Major league scouts have followed Sugano for some time. He first appeared on many fans’ radars when the Yomiuri Giants made him available via the posting system during the 2020-21 offseason. Sugano was coming off a 1.97 ERA showing in his age-30 season. While he certainly attracted attention from big league clubs, he didn’t find a deal that compelled him to leave Japan. Instead, Sugano returned to the Giants on a four-year deal that paid him $40MM.

That contract allowed Sugano to opt out after each season, potentially clearing a path for him to make the move to MLB. He was evidently happy with his longtime club and decided not to take any of the early outs. Once the four-year term concluded, his camp made clear he intended to sign with an MLB team this offseason. Sugano had surpassed the nine years of NPB service time necessary to qualify for international free agency. Yomiuri will not receive any compensation for his departure, nor will the deal cost the Orioles anything other than the player’s salary.

Despite his age, Sugano is coming off one of his strongest seasons. He turned in a 1.67 ERA across 156 2/3 innings spanning 24 starts. It’s the second-lowest ERA of his career and earned him the NPB’s Central League MVP award for the third time. That’s not to say he’s still at his absolute peak form, however. Sugano only threw 77 2/3 innings during the 2023 season, reportedly on account of an elbow injury. His swing-and-miss rates have also dropped significantly compared to earlier years. Sugano struck out 18.3% of batters faced this year — well off the 24-26% range he’d posted in his late 20s.

Sugano’s NPB strikeout rate was about four percentage points lower than the 22% MLB average for starting pitchers. Many NPB hitters adopt a more contact-oriented approach than is common in the big leagues, so perhaps he’ll miss a few more bats in the majors. Sugano doesn’t have the same upside he would’ve brought a few seasons ago, though. Baseball America’s scouting report notes that his fastball velocity has dipped into the 92-93 MPH range after sitting somewhere between 94-96 MPH earlier in his career.

While the pure stuff has dropped as he’s aged and battled injury, Sugano has thrived thanks to his feel for pitching. That’s most evident in his excellent command. Sugano only walked 16 hitters all season, a microscopic 2.6% rate that’s lower than what any MLB starter managed this year (minimum 100 innings). That should rise slightly as he faces more patient hitters, but it’s fair to project Sugano for plus or better command.

Baseball America writes that Sugano indeed profiles as a control-oriented fourth or fifth starter. The outlet credits him with a five-pitch mix headlined by an above-average slider and splitter. Fans are encouraged to read BA’s full column, which also includes updated scouting reports on other prominent NPB and KBO players who are available to MLB teams (i.e. Roki Sasaki, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Hyeseong Kim and Koyo Aoyagi).

The contract aligns with MLBTR’s prediction of one year and $12MM. It values Sugano as a capable back-end starter. Alex Cobb signed for $15MM with the Tigers last week. Late-career innings eaters Lance Lynn ($11MM) and Kyle Gibson ($13MM) got similar one-year deals with the Cardinals last offseason.

Sugano is a needed rotation upgrade for GM Mike Elias and his front office. The O’s should continue searching for higher-upside arms in the coming weeks. Sugano slots behind Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez in the projected rotation. Dean Kremer, Trevor Rogers, Albert Suarez and youngsters Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott are options for the final two spots. The rotation remains Baltimore’s biggest question mark.

Sugano is the third highest-paid player on the roster, narrowly trailing Eflin ($18MM) and newly signed outfielder Tyler O’Neill ($16.5MM). Their player payroll is up to $134MM, as calculated by RosterResource. It’s not clear how far they’re willing to push spending in the first offseason under the David Rubenstein ownership group.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the salary. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Brewers Grant Release To Jon Duplantier To Pursue NPB Opportunity

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The Brewers have granted right-hander Jon Duplantier his release so that he can pursue an opportunity with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.

Duplantier, 30, inked a minor league deal with Milwaukee back in November and had been slated to compete for a job in spring training. It would seem that the opportunity overseas presented itself between the completion of that deal and today’s news, and the Brewers opted not to stand in the way of Duplantier’s guaranteed payday in NPB.

A former third-round pick and consensus top-100 prospect, Duplantier has only pitched in parts of two big league seasons: 2019 and 2021. Both came with the D-backs, who originally selected him in the 2016 draft. Duplantier held his own through 36 2/3 innings as a rookie in ’19 but was bombarded for 19 runs in only 13 innings in ’21. He’s posted a 6.70 ERA in 49 2/3 innings, striking out 19.7% of opponents against an 11.2% walk rate.

That was quite some time ago now. More recently, Duplantier dominated for the independent American Association’s Lake Country DockHounds in 2024, posting 18 scoreless frames with a 30-to-6 K/BB ratio. He parlayed that into Triple-A looks with the Dodgers and Mets, pitching to a combined 4.20 ERA with a 27.4% strikeout rate and grisly 16.1% walk rate in 65 2/3 innings of minor league work. In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Duplantier has a 4.85 ERA with similar strikeout and walk rates to the ones he notched in 2024.

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