Rumored massive Franmil Reyes extension could make former Padres slugger one of Japan’s highest-paid players ever

We remember when Franmil Reyes’ bat grabbed our attention in San Diego. Now he’s reported getting a paycheck in Japan that deserves the same treatment. The former Padres slugger has reportedly agreed to a four-year extension with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters that could reach $40 million and keep him with the club through 2030. According to Mike Rodriguez’s report, that would make Reyes the highest-paid player in Nippon Professional Baseball history.

The Fighters have announced an extension, but the club did not disclose its length or financial terms.

Even with that qualification, it’s been a real turn of events for a player whose name had slipped out the MLB conversation. Reyes has built a career in Japan worth committing serious money to, and honestly, good for him. 

Japan could put a record price on the bat Padres fans remember

Reyes hit 27 home runs in 99 games for San Diego before being traded to Cleveland in 2019. Every time he stepped into the box, the appeal was in some ways, complicated. Reyers could send a baseball to the moon, or he could simply strike out. 

The years since have taken him a long way from Petco Park. His last MLB appearance came with Kansas City in 2023. He joined the Fighters in 2024 and has since produced 89 home runs across three seasons, with a .294 average and .906 OPS.

Those numbers explain why Hokkaido would want to keep him around. Three seasons of that production give a club plenty to buy into. If the reported maximum holds, we’re talking about a deal averaging $10 million annually. The player who faded from our MLB radar could spend the next four years earning the kind of money that makes everyone look up his stats again.

The temptation in San Diego will be to drag this straight back to the trade deadline in 2019. But Reyes’ success deserves more room than another round of grading a transaction made seven years ago. He has a team that values his production and, by the reported terms, wants to pay handsomely for more of it. That is a terrific outcome for him.

“Forgotten slugger” might describe how he fits into an old MLB conversation. In Hokkaido, Reyes has made himself into a real star. It’s something any baseball can appreciate. A guy with a big swing has made sure to keep carrying it a long way.

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