Twins Sign Tsuyoshi Nishioka To Three-Year Contract

A few weeks ago, the Minnesota Twins won the rights to Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka through the posting process. And while the other high-profile Japanese player to be posted - Hisashi Iwakuma - didn’t end up signing a contract after talks broke off with the Oakland A’s, negotiations between Nishioka and the Twins have reached a happy conclusion.

According to Jon Heyman, Nishioka and the Twins have agreed on a three-year contract with a fourth-year option. The contract will be worth a total somewhere around $10 million, exceeding the $5 million posting fee the Twins paid for the rights.

After a few days’ worth of rumors that they were heavily involved, the Minnesota Twins have won the rights to Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Other teams, like the Mariners and Orioles, were rumored to be interested as well, but the Twins wound up submitting a high bid of around $5 million.

The Twins now have a 30-day window during which they will attempt to come to a contract agreement with the 26-year-old batting champion. The expectation is that he will sign for a few million per year, and something like $15 million over three years would not be unreasonable.

Japanese starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma has already been posted and won by the Oakland A’s this offseason. However, he isn’t the only player who’s looking to cross over to the Major Leagues, and according to Ken Rosenthal, middle infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka will be posted very shortly.

The 26-year-old Nishioka led the Pacific League in batting average last season, hitting .346 for the Chiba Lotte Marines. He also stole 22 bases while scoring 121 runs, and his 206 hits made for the highest total for a player in the Pacific League since Ichiro in 1994.