The Red Sox’s biggest need this offseason is a big bat to anchor the heart of the lineup, but outside of Randy Arozarena and Seiya Suzuki, there aren’t too many power bats on this year’s free agent market worth pursuing.
But according to recent reports out of Japan, one very intriguing name will soon be added to the mix.
Teruaki Sato, a 27-year-old slugger and reigning Nippon Professional Baseball MVP, will be posted to MLB clubs in the near future, his Japanese team, the Hanshin Tigers, announced recently. Sato is likely to repeat as Central League MVP this season after winning the Triple Crown, and the left-handed infielder has now hit 39 home runs or more in back-to-back seasons.
Could he be the middle of the order fixture the Red Sox are looking for? There’s a lot to like about Sato’s game, but also some potential risk.
Dominant force overseas
In terms of pure production, Sato has been one of Japan’s top power hitters from the moment he debuted in 2021. Through six NPB seasons, he topped 20 home runs five times, and overall he hit 163 homers, which equates to a little over 27 per season.
Sato has been especially dominant over the past two years. This year, he won the Triple Crown with a .306 batting average, 39 home runs and 106 RBI in 143 games, along with 40 doubles with a career-high .991 OPS. That came after he also hit 40 home runs with 102 RBI in his MVP-winning 2025 campaign.
If he wins a second MVP as expected and makes the jump to MLB, Sato will become the first position player to win NPB MVP and play in the majors the following season since Hideki Matsui in 2003.
This past spring, Sato also took part in the World Baseball Classic as part of Team Japan, hitting three doubles in five games, and in 2023 he helped lead the Tigers to their first Japan Series title since 1985.
While Sato has primarily played third base as a pro — he won NPB’s equivalent of the Gold Glove in 2025 — he has some experience in the outfield and could conceivably be moved to first base as well.
If there’s one concern MLB clubs may have about Sato, it’s his propensity to strike out a lot. This past season Sato posted a 26.7% strikeout rate — the MLB average is 22.4% — and that’s while facing NPB pitchers who generally don’t throw nearly as hard as their big league counterparts.
That being said, similar concerns were also expressed over fellow Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami, who had a 26.9% strikeout rate in his final season in Japan. He wound up settling for a two-year, $34 million contract with the White Sox as a result, and while he did strike out a ton in MLB, he also hit 35 home runs and helped lead Chicago back to the postseason.
How have recent Japanese stars fared?
Murakami was one of two Japanese sluggers who headlined last winter’s free agent class, along with Kazuma Okamoto, who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. Both players had similar profiles as Sato coming out of Japan and enjoyed immediate success upon their arrival in the majors.
Murakami was a quintessential three-true-outcomes hitter, batting .207 with 35 home runs, 92 walks and 196 strikeouts, but his .825 OPS was second on the White Sox among regular starters and his 130 OPS+ equated to 30% better than league average offensive production.
Okamoto, who signed a four-year, $60 million deal, hit for a higher average (.232) with a comparable number of home runs (33) and strikeouts (183), but fewer walks (59) and less overall production (.762 OPS, 107 OPS+).
If Sato could step right in and provide that level of production in Boston, the Red Sox would be thrilled.
How about other recent Japanese stars? The two most prominent arrivals prior to Murakami and Okamoto have been Masataka Yoshida, who signed with the Red Sox ahead of the 2023 season, and Suzuki, who signed with the Cubs the prior winter.
Boston’s experience with Yoshida has been underwhelming. Since signing a five-year, $90 million deal, Yoshida has frequently battled injuries and the power Boston hoped to see never materialized. When healthy he has consistently been a solid contact hitter, but he hasn’t contributed much in other areas.
Suzuki, on the other hand, has been a highly productive big league hitter. Following a respectable rookie year, he has posted four consecutive seasons with at least 20 home runs, .800 OPS and 125 OPS+ or better. Last year, he made major strides defensively in right field, helping him post a career-high 5.1 Wins Above Replacement.
Of course, the most successful recent Japanese arrival has been Shohei Ohtani, but nobody should expect Sato (or anyone) to make that kind of impact again any time soon.
How would Sato fit on current Sox roster?
The Red Sox already have a Gold Glove finalist at third base in Caleb Durbin, and it’s unlikely they’d shift Sato to first base as long as Willson Contreras remains on the team. That being the case, Sato would probably fit best as the primary designated hitter and a change-of-pace left field option similar to the role Jarren Duran and Yoshida held last season.
Regardless of what position he settles into, he would be an obvious choice to bat third or fourth as a high-impact power hitter.
In terms of lefty-righty split, the Red Sox lineup has become much more balanced than in recent years when it often skewed highly left-handed. Currently the club’s projected lineup could included as many as five right-handed bats (Contreras, Durbin, Ceddanne Rafaela, Trevor Story, Curtis Mead), four potential left-handed hitters (Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Duran and Yoshida) and two switch-hitters (Adley Rutschman, Nick Sogard).
If Sato is most likely to take a spot occupied by Duran or Yoshida, being a left-handed hitter would help preserve the current balance.
What kind of deal is Sato expected to land?
Under the Japanese posting system, players can be made available to MLB clubs any time between Nov. 1 and Dec. 5, and once the player is posted there is a 45-day window where that player can sign with a new team. If the player signs, his Japanese team receives a posting fee based on the value of the contract, and if he does not then he’d return to his original NPB club.
Due to the impending lockout, the expectation is Sato will be posted as soon as today, and he would presumably try to sign before the lockout begins on Dec. 2.
As an accomplished power hitter in his prime, Sato is expected to land one of the largest contracts of what is generally considered a weak free agent market. Jim Bowden of The Athletic recently projected Sato will land a five-year, $180 million deal that would pay him $36 million annually, putting him behind only aces Tarik Skubal and Freddy Peralta on his free agent rankings.
That could turn out to be a wild overestimation, but other outlets agree he will be highly sought after. MLB Trade Rumors ranked Sato as their No. 2 free agent in terms of earning power toward the end of the season, and CBS Sports had Sato at No. 4 in their rankings.
Whatever it costs, would the Red Sox be willing to pay? According to Red Sox Payroll on Twitter/X, the club is currently projected to carry a payroll of approximately $267 million for 2027, which is comparable to this year’s franchise-record total of $268.42 million. That is assuming the team doesn’t re-sign Sonny Gray and doesn’t make any additional moves.
With lingering uncertainty about what the game’s financial landscape will look like, taking the plunge on Sato might be a bit of a leap of faith. Right now, the Red Sox don’t know if there will be a salary cap next year, and if not, nobody has any idea where the luxury tax thresholds could wind up.
But on the flip side, none of the other power bats on the market will come cheap either, so if the Red Sox are serious about boosting the lineup then Sato is an option the club must consider.
