Veteran righty agrees to deal with Japanese team

Right-hander Patrick Murphy has agreed to terms with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The deal, which is pending a physical, will be for one year with a 2025 option as well as performance bonuses and escalators.

Murphy, 29 in June, spent 2023 with the Twins on a minor league deal. He began the year in a fairly typical relief role but got stretched out for the final two months of the season. From the start of April to Aug. 1, he tossed 44 2/3 innings over 33 appearances with an earned run average of 4.63. He struck out 25.3% of opponents but gave out walks at a 16.1% clip. He made nine more appearances from there and tacked on another 40 2/3 innings with a 2.66 ERA, 24.7% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate.

Prior to this year, he was a third-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2013. He made it to the majors with that club and eventually went to the Nationals via a waiver claim. Between those two teams, he threw 39 2/3 major league innings from 2020 to 2022 with a 4.76 ERA, but he didn’t get to the big leagues in 2023.

Had he stayed in North America for 2024, he likely would have been limited to minor league offers but will instead head to Japan, where he should be in line for a larger salary and an opportunity to prove himself in what’s generally considered to be the strongest league outside of MLB. It’s unclear if the Fighters plan on using Murphy as a starter or reliever but he did both in 2023 and could perhaps provide them with some flexibility. If he fares well overseas, he could parlay that into a return to the majors down the road, a path taken by guys like Miles Mikolas, Chris Martin, Nick Martinez and others.