Without conducting an official count I'd be willing to bet no franchise in Major League Baseball history has sent more closers to the All-Star Game than the Padres. I mean, look at this list:
Rollie Fingers
Goose Gossage
Mark Davis
Trevor Hoffman
Heath Bell
Huston Street
Fernando Rodney (I'm counting him because he earned a spot in the 2016 game playing in San Diego but was traded to the Marlins just before the break)
Brad Hand
Kirby Yates
Mark Melancon
Josh Hader
That's 11 different guys spanning five decades. For whatever reason this franchise just knows how to find 9th inning specialists. They located their next closer in Japan.
Yuki Matsui is officially a Padre, signing a 5-year, $28 million contract with San Diego. The 28-year-old is the fastest pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball history to record 200 career saves. Many of them have been multiple inning outings, something the Padres were looking for after Hader's reluctance to work anything more than three clean outs caused consternation at the end of his time in San Diego.
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Matsui is a split-finger fastball specialist who's struck out nearly a third of the hitters he's ever faced. His presence likely allows the Padres to keep Robert Suarez in the 8th inning role where he's thrived.
This contract will average $5.6 million per season against the Competitive Balance Tax, giving the Padres what's believed to be in the neighborhood of $28 million to play with for the rest of the off-season. They still need to add at least two outfielders and a few more arms.
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