UPDATE: Early on Christmas Eve, Nobuhiro Matsuda said in a press conference that he will return to the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of the Pacific League of the Nippon Professional Baseball league instead of coming across to play in the Major League Baseball.
“From my two choices, I chose to stay with the Hawks,” the 32-year-old told a news conference at Yafuoku Dome.
According to the Japan Times, the contract is a four-year deal worth about $13.3 million, which is the same as ¥1.6 billion. Matsuda is a two-time defending champion of the Japan Series.
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Just a day after it was reported by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports that Nobuhiro Matsuda would likely return to Japan, the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks offered the infielder a four-year deal in the range of $20-25 million, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.
The right-handed hitter was being looked at by the San Deigo Padres and the Chicago White Sox, but it looks like he will turn down all Major League Baseball (MLB) offers to return to the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league. As a matter of fact, the Padres were considering to offer Matsuda a two-year contract, according to Dennis Lin of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Matsuda, a graduate of Asia University, slugged 22 doubles, two triples, 35 home runs and 94 RBI across 143 games. He slashed .287/.357/.533, but struck out a career-high 135 times.
Over his career, Matsuda has experience at third base, first base and left field, but has been a primary third baseman for the last five seasons. Across 1,064 career games in the NPB, the slugger has hit .277 with 161 home runs and 577 RBI. All 10 seasons were spent with the Hawks in Japan. He has shown respectable power over his career and would have been a great fit in the MLB, but instead he will look to finish out his season in the NPB.