Report: Padres met with Japanese free agent Matsuda

The San Diego Padres could turn to the international market to improve their infield depth this offseason.

General manager A.J. Preller and scouting director Logan White met this week with Japanese free agent Nobuhiro Matsuda, the 32-year-old third baseman who spent the last decade with the Softbank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports. Matsuda - a three-time Japan Series champion - didn't play middle infield in Japan, but earned four Golden Glove awards at third base and could still be viewed as a possible upgrade or complement to the Padres' uninspired contingent of infielders.

Earlier this month, Matsuda expressed his desire to make the leap to Major League Baseball following another strong season with the Hawks, wherein he smacked a career-high 35 homers with an .889 OPS in 143 games.

"One's life in baseball is short," Matsuda said in a statement, via the Japan Times. "To avoid regrets I've made this decision out of a desire to learn what I am worth. This is the only chance I will have to find out whether or not I can compete in the majors."

Unlike many of his countrymen, however, Matsuda won't be subject to the posting system that governs player transfers from NPB to the majors. Had Matsuda accrued less than nine years of service in Japan, he would first have to receive permission from the Hawks to be posted. Once posted, Matsuda would have just 30 days to negotiate a deal, and only with those MLB teams willing to pay his Japanese club a posting fee capped at $20 million.