If you’ve heard the name Teruaki Sato before, it’s probably from last spring’s World Baseball Classic. The superstar Japanese slugger hit two home runs and batted .300 before falling to eventual champions Venezuela in a quarterfinal loss.
Seeking more middle-of-the-order pop and a potential replacement for impending free agent Alec Bohm, the Philadelphia Phillies sent scouts to his Hanshin Tigers' Climax Series defeat at the hands of the DeNA BayStars on October 17, according to a Yahoo Japan report. This isn't the first time the Phillies have scouted Sato. General manager Preston Mattingly went to Japan himself to scout the slugger back in May.
Sato won the NPB triple crown in 2026, hitting 39 homers and driving in 106 runs. He slashed .306/.383/.609. He’s drawn comparisons to recent NPB-turned-MLB star Munetaka Murakami, though he is better defensively with less power.
Evaluators expect the Tigers to post Sato this off-season, though the impending CBA expiration could add an interesting wrinkle to his contract negotiations. The posting window for players from Japan runs from November 1 to December 5, and once a player is approved for discussion with American clubs, they have 45 days from the posting date to sign.
That means even if Sato is posted on the earliest possible date, November 1, he’ll have only 30 days to negotiate with clubs, not 45.
If his contract mirrors Munetaka Murakami’s or Kazuma Okamoto’s, as Yahoo Japan suggests, with both carrying an AAV between $15 and $17 million, club and player discussions must move quickly.
Who is Teruaki Sato?
Furthermore, Sato hits left-handed. Adding him to an already lefty-heavy lineup that includes southpaw hitters Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh, Justin Crawford, and Bryson Stott could force the Phillies to move on from one of the above players.
Philadelphia struggled with left-handed pitching in 2026; they don’t need to get any worse by replacing Bohm, one of only two qualified Phillies hitters with an OPS over .740 against lefties, with someone who has never faced MLB pitching.
That said, the Phillies are sorely lacking power. Both Okamoto and Murakami had their power translate from NPB to MLB; they hit 33 and 35 home runs, respectively. In fact, Okamoto hit more long balls in America in 2026 than in a full season in Japan in 2025.
Last year, only Harper and Schwarber hit more than 20 home runs for the Phillies, as the team ranked 17th in MLB with 182 home runs, down 30 from 2025 and a paltry total for 81 games in the Citizens Bank Park band box.
Right-center field at the Hanshin Tigers’ Koshien Stadium is 387 feet; in Philadelphia, right-center is only 369. Could Sato’s power numbers increase if he came to Philadelphia?
The Phillies would have to forfeit their 2027 2nd & 5th Round draft picks and $1 Million in International Bonus Pool Money if they sign a player with a qualifying offer. https://t.co/vO1MdwVK8R
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) October 16, 2026
First, the Phillies would need to convince a Japanese player to sign. The club has never directly sign a player from NPB. Supposedly, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s offer to now-Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the most lucrative deal he received. Yamamoto ultimately turned down Philadelphia to play with his Samurai Japan teammate, Shohei Ohtani.
The Phillies are up against history when it comes to signing NPB stars. But there has to be a first for everything, and if the team wants to avoid free agents with qualifying offers, Sato could be the perfect addition.
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