Three years ago, Japan toppled the United States to win the World Baseball Classic thanks to Shohei Ohtani's two-way exploits, punctuated by his strikeout of Mike Trout to seal the victory. Ohtani was the star of the show, but he wasn't the only star. Several of his teammates, household names in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, used the stage to introduce themselves to American baseball fans while making major contributions to that championship run.
Situations such as this one tend to benefit all parties. The Yankees will lose some depth, but Winans wasn't a lock to last the whole offseason on their 40-man roster anyhow - particularly since he's out of minor league options. Japanese teams typically pay a release fee of a few hundred thousand dollars to a player's MLB club in order to facilitate the release.
The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball announced they've signed Kenta Maeda. The 37-year-old righty said in August that he planned to return to his home country next year. A report from Japan's Sankei Sports indicates he signed a two-year contract. This will all but officially close the book on Maeda's career in the major leagues. He pitched in nine MLB seasons, turning in a 4.20 earned run average while coming up a little shy of 1000 innings pitched.
It is easy to see why the Fighters wanted to lock Reyes up, as he has provided some big pop over his two NPB seasons. Reyes has hit .282/.347/.535 with 57 home runs over 899 plate appearances with the Kitahiroshima-based club, helping carry the Fighters to second-place finishes in the Pacific League in each of the last two seasons. The Fighters' 240 home runs over the last two seasons is the most of any NPB team, with Reyes' power bat leading the way.
