After spending 14 seasons in the majors, including last season with the Red Sox, right-hander Vicente Padilla is headed to Japan.
Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reports that Padilla has agreed to a one-year, $3.25 million deal with the Softbank Hawks.
Padilla pitched pretty well for the Red Sox last season, throwing 50 innings with a 51/15 K/BB ratio and 4.50 ERA while working as a full-time reliever for the first time since 2001. That performance certainly seems good enough to get him some one-year offers from MLB teams, but $3.25 million is basically as much as Padilla earned during the past two seasons combined and at age 35 that’s a pretty nice score.
If he’s done in the majors Padilla finishes his career with a 108-91 record and 4.32 ERA in 1,571 innings for the Diamondbacks, Phillies, Rangers, Dodgers, and Red Sox.
