The Boston Red Sox landed one of the best international free agents on the market in the signing of Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the deal will total around $105.4million in combined contract and posting fee.
Yoshida will be playing at Fenway Park after he and the Red Sox agreed to a contract totaling five-years and $90m.
According to the agreement between Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball, players who don’t have the required nine years of pro experience to enter international free agency will be ‘posted’ for MLB clubs.
Per the set rules laid out by the MLB, Boston will be paying $15.4m in a posting fee decided upon by a set percentage.
In total, the $105.4m is more than the fee the Chicago Cubs paid for Seiya Suzuki earlier this year. 
It also makes Yoshida the second most expensive Japanese player of all time behind former Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka who initially signed a seven-year, $155m contract back in 2014.
Yoshida led the NPB in on-base + slugging percentage (OPS) for the past two seasons. In 515 combined plate appearances, Yoshida only struck out 42 times and was walked only 82 times.
He raked 140 total hits, 21 home runs, 89 RBI, and finished with a combined batting average of .336, and OBP of .449 and a slugging percentage of .559.
