The New York Yankees have had great success with stars from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball in the past.
There’s at least a chance that one of the new faces coming stateside, Teruaki Sato, would look quite good in pinstripes, too.
Sato is likely to have a lot of suitors, with many connecting him to the Yankees’ AL East rival Toronto Blue Jays.
But given Sato’s position, and the Yankees’ willingness to get involved in big negotiations, it would be unwise to count out the Yanks in the pursuit of Sato.
And in recent days, things moved toward at least a slightly higher chance of Sato ending up with the Yankees.
Teruaki Sato Posting Update
The first thing that has to happen for a Japanese player to come to MLB from an NPB team is the posting.
When a player is posted, they can then negotiate with major league teams on a contract.
And it has been reported that Sato has been granted his posting request by his current team, the Hanshin Tigers.
The timing is also key — Japanese players often aren’t posted until later in the offseason, but with the potential for MLB to go into a lockout on Dec. 1, getting Sato posted sooner will give him a chance to sign before then.
The Hanshin Tigers have accepted Teruaki Sato’s posting request
The Tigers will likely post him as early as possible to give him a chance to sign before the lockout https://t.co/zH4clz6rbq
— Gaijin Baseball/外国人野球 (@GaijinBaseball) October 19, 2026
The Yankees won’t be alone in the bidding, and it’s not clear just how intensely they’ll go after Sato, but the moment is arriving sooner rather than later when they’ll have to consider it.
Who is Teruaki Sato?
Teruaki Sato is a 27-year old, lefty-swinging slugger from Japan. And notably for the Yankees, he can play third base.
He has spent his entire professional career playing for the Hanshin Tigers in Nippon Professional Baseball, which is widely regarded as the second-best baseball league in the world behind MLB.
This was Sato’s best season yet. He has a .315 average in 136 games with 39 doubles, three triples, 37 home runs and 100 RBI. His OPS was a career-best 1.012.
Sato didn’t hit for as much average in 2025 (.277), but he did slug 40 homers and drive in 102 runs.
And at this spring’s World Baseball Classic, Sato went 3-for-10 — all three hits being doubles.
Sato struck out 156 times in 136 games this year, and 163 times in 139 games last year. Given that NPB’s pitchers don’t have the velocity or stuff of MLB’s arms, the transition to MLB pitching will be the biggest potential concern.
The Yankees have seen Japanese stars shine in the Bronx before, though, so they likely won’t shy away from Sato if the negotiations move in a positive direction for Brian Cashman and the New York front office.
Yankees’ Chance of Signing Teruaki Sato Increases