What changed
Hanshin Tigers have posted 27-year-old slugger Teruaki Sato, opening the door for him to negotiate with MLB clubs as soon as Monday.
Sato’s normal negotiating window would run through Dec. 16, but MLB’s collective bargaining agreement is scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1. A lockout could therefore leave clubs with roughly two fewer weeks to sign him. If no deal is reached, Sato returns to Hanshin.
Why it matters
Sato enters the market after a season that is difficult to improve on: a.306 average, 39 home runs and 106 RBI, plus the Central League Triple Crown and his second consecutive MVP award.
The Mets are the clearest link. Their president of baseball operations, David Stearns, personally scouted Sato in Japan and could pursue him as a left-handed infielder who moves to first base. That would give New York a major power option after Pete Alonso left, rather than relying on Jorge Polanco, Jared Young and Brett Baty to fill the position.
The timing makes this more than a standard free-agent chase. MLB clubs may have only a compressed window to negotiate before labor uncertainty freezes the market. Whether that happens, whether the Mets make the winning offer and whether Sato chooses MLB remain unsettled.
There is also a reason for caution beneath the excitement. Sato struck out in 27% of his Hanshin plate appearances. Munetaka Murakami, another Japanese power hitter scouted by Stearns, saw his strikeout rate rise from 28.8% in Japan to 35.4% with the Chicago White Sox. Sato’s power is obvious. How cleanly it carries across the Pacific is the part no posting announcement can answer.
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