Freddy Galvis, an infielder with more than nine years of big-league service time, is reportedly nearing an agreement with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, according to Yahoo! Japan.
Galvis, who celebrated his 32nd birthday November 14, split last season with the Baltimore Orioles and the Philadelphia Phillies. In 104 games, he batted .242/.302/.407 (91 OPS+) with 14 home runs. His performance was worth an estimated 1.2 Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference’s calculations.
Galvis has appeared in more than 1,100 big-league games over the course of 10 big-league seasons. He’s accumulated 966 hits as well as 109 home runs and a career batting line of .246/.292/.387 (82 OPS+). He’s been worth 9.5 Wins Above Replacement, peaking at 3.1 wins for his work during the 2019 season. In addition to the Orioles and the Phillies, he’s previously suited up with the Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.
Galvis’ move to Japan comes as a surprise given that he played well enough last season to earn a spot on someone’s bench, and it’s unclear if it comes in response to Major League Baseball’s owner-induced lockout. At present, MLB teams are unable to negotiate with free agents (or make trades involving players who part of the union), meaning players like Galvis will remain out in the cold until the lockout is lifted following the ratification of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement by both the league’s owners and the MLB Players Association.
It stands to reason that, at minimum, Galvis won’t be the last big-league role player to take a guaranteed job elsewhere between now and the end of the work stoppage.
