The New York Mets have remained extremely active in the offseason, making sure manager Carlos Mendoza has a big player pool to choose from. In addition to the huge MLB deals they struck, such as Juan Soto, Clay Holmes, and Frankie Montas, they have also made small, minor league signings with invitations to camp.
Mets sign intriguing Japanese pitcher to minor league pact
On Monday, they announced the signing of a Japanese hurler Yuhi Sako to a minor league pact with an invitation to spring training. He is not your average hurler, though, as he possesses plenty of experience in the NPB.
Per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (h/t SNY), the Mets are signing Yuhi Sako to a minor league deal. “The Japanese pitcher threw for the New Jersey Jackals in Independent ball this past year,” the report noted.
In 16 games (15 starts) for the Jackals in the Frontier League, the right-hander had a 3.40 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 92.2 frames. This year, Sako also had short stints in the Atlantic and Mexican Leagues. In the past, before playing independent league ball, the Japanese pitched for the Canberra Cavalry in the Australian Baseball League.
The Mets’ scouting department strikes again
There isn’t even much information on Sako’s stuff and tendencies around the web, so the Mets certainly did their scouting work and probably saw something they liked and bet on him and their own player development staff.
At worst, Sako is a cheap lottery ticket who could stick around for minor-league pitching depth. The team hopes that, with work and discipline, he can become the best version of himself ahead of spring training. The Mets are always on the lookout for pitching depth and quality. Even after adding Soto, they remain in on just about every major free agent, especially pitchers.
It makes sense since they lost more than half of their rotation to free agency, namely Sean Manaea, Luis Severino (who signed a lucrative deal with the Athletics), and Jose Quintana. The word out there is that the Mets aren’t done adding, though.
