The Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball have officially signed first baseman Mike Ford to a contract. Ford returns to Yokohama, where he was a key part of their 2024 Japan Series championship run.
【2025年シーズン 選手契約について】
マイク・ #フォード 選手と2025年シーズンの選手契約を結ぶことで合意いたしましたのでお知らせいたします。
なお、背番号については、99となります。詳しくはこちら https://t.co/BGQ7rNqZ3g#WELCOMEBACKTO #YOKOHAMA #baystars pic.twitter.com/lOOCkeZPdG
— 横浜DeNAベイスターズ (@ydb_yokohama) July 8, 2025
Ford signed with the BayStars last summer and played 41 games for their farm team before being promoted toward the end of the regular season.
Although Ford did not put up great numbers in his six regular-season games, he was selected for the postseason roster. In the playoffs, Ford was very productive, posting a .333/.412/.600 slash line in 17 postseason plate appearances.
Mike Ford explains what winning an NPB Championship with the Yokohama BayStars was like. pic.twitter.com/rMoacXMbiq
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) November 6, 2024
Ford is a New Jersey native and played college baseball at Princeton University. He signed with his childhood favorite team, the New York Yankees, as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He made his MLB debut with the Yankees in 2019 and has played six years in MLB with six different teams.
Ford owns a career 93 OPS+ in his MLB time, and his power has made him a well-sought-after bat to fill a foreign player slot in NPB. According to Gaijin Baseball on X.com, four different NPB teams were interested in adding Ford to their rosters before he decided to return to Yokohama.
4 NPB clubs are reportedly looking at Mike Ford
Ford who joined the BayStars in the middle of 2024, had lots of power but was unable to maintain a spot with the big club thanks to the foreign player limit.
With Tyler Austin coming back on no DH in the CL, he's now a FA pic.twitter.com/ttIYZd97Au
— Gaijin Baseball/外国人野球 (@GaijinBaseball) November 11, 2024
Mike Ford has been unleashed!
His 1st career NPB hit is a big home run 🌈pic.twitter.com/D0MmmGRHta
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) July 27, 2024
This move comes around the same time the BayStars signed first baseman Dayán Viciedo to a deal. With these two foreign power bats, the BayStars are looking to get back over .500 and overcome their eight-and-a-half-game deficit for first place in the Central League. Ford is one of multiple mid-season imports to NPB that can make a difference come playoff time.
WBN NPB: https://worldbaseball.com/league/japan/nippon-professional-baseball/
Photo: New York Yankees’ Mike Ford tosses his bat after hitting a pinch-hit, walk-off, solo home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019, in New York. The Yankees defeated Oakland 5-4 in the game. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
