By Miguel Rapetti
The early elimination of the New York Yankees in the 2023 Major League season, which many classified as a disappointment, has caused the board to now seek to reinforce its entire roster for 2024 and one of the improvements could come directly from Japan.
Although the Yankees faced many failures with their starters, the only solvent arm being Gerrit Cole who is the main candidate to win the Cy Young award in the American League, the bullpen totaled 3.32 ERA throughout the year, which made it worthy of the collective statistics in all the major leagues.
However, now the Mules would aim to improve their arm corps with the addition of one of the best arms in all of Japanese baseball: Yuki Matsui.
A new Matsui in the Yankees, after the successful time that Hideki Matsui had in the 2000s, could be seen in 2024 with this closer who has managed to leave striking numbers during his time and consolidation in Japan.
The closer has managed to spend his entire career with the Rakuten Eagles where at 27 years old he already has a total of 236 career saves, of which 39 of them were achieved in 2023.
Likewise, the almost 28-year-old left-hander also saw action with his country in the World Baseball Classic, where the Japanese won the championship. In the tournament, Matsui participated in one tournament game, pitching one inning and striking out a scoreless game.
The main doubt with a possible acquisition of Matsui would be the future of Clay Holmes as a closer in the Bronx. The right-hander finished in 2023 with 24 saves and an ERA of 2.86, leaving positive feelings in the Yankees.
Although one of the interested teams would be New York, according to Yahoo Japan the city’s neighbors, the New York Mets, as well as the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, would also seek to acquire the reliever’s services.