hideki matsui minor league contract

hideki matsui minor league contract

hideki matsui minor league contract - St. Petersburg Florida. Outfielder Hideki Matsui 37, signed a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays Monday. Matsui will report to extended spring training in Port Charlotte.Matsui has played nine seasons in the Major Leagues with the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics.

Andrew Friedman executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Rays made the announcement on Monday. He called Matsui "one of the most consistently productive hitters in the world." for the last 20 years.

The Rays signed outfielder/designated hitter Hideki Matsui to a Minor League contract on Monday. The left-handed hitter will report to extended spring training in Charlotte County, Fla., on Wednesday.

Matsui, who turns 38 in June, has played nine seasons in the Major Leagues with the New York Yankees (2003-09), Los Angeles Angels (2010) and Oakland Athletics (2011) following a 10-year career with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Central League. He owns a career .285 batting average with 173 home runs, 753 RBIs and 248 doubles in 1,202 games after hitting .304 with 332 home runs, 889 RBIs and 245 doubles in 1,268 games in Japan.

"Over the past two decades, Hideki has been one of the most consistently productive hitters in the world," said Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. "We are happy to add his ability, approach and professionalism to our organization."

Matsui was a nine-time All-Star in Japan (1994-2002) and a two-time American League All-Star (2003-04). While 25 players have reached 500 home runs in the Major Leagues and eight have done so in Japan, Matsui is the first to combine for 500 home runs in both leagues. He slugged No. 500 on July 20, 2011, at Detroit.

The three-time Central League Most Valuable Player (1996, 2000, 2002) played for three Japan Series Champions with Yomiuri (1998, 2000, 2002) and one World Series champion with the Yankees in 2009, when he was named World Series MVP.

Matsui has the most home runs, RBIs and walks (539) of any Japanese player in Major League history. He did not miss a game in his first three seasons with the Yankees, putting together a streak of 518 games played to set the record for longest streak of consecutive games to start a Major League career. Prior to that stretch, he played in 1,250 consecutive games with Yomiuri for a total streak of 1,768 straight games as a professional.

Matsui played in 141 games for Oakland last season, batting .251 with 12 home runs and 72 RBIs. He started 108 games at designated hitter and 27 games in left field. In 61 career games at Tropicana Field, he has hit .297 with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs.

hideki matsui minor league contract 2012-05-01T11:58:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Tips SEO Youtube 2019