$40 million for Franmil Reyes? Guardians fans wonder about Japan’s NPB superstar originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

April Fools Day makes everything a little bit more confusing.

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That includes news circulating Wednesday morning about former Cleveland Guardians slugger Franmil Reyes.

This was posted on X by Mike Rodriguez, who is a usually reliable MLB insider with information about Latin American players:

“According to my sources, MLB teams are actively evaluating a return for Franmil Reyes, with a deal in the $30–40M range over 3–4 years in play — whether back in MLB or staying in Nippon Professional Baseball. NPB clubs view his bat as a rare, near-generational profile. The hot start of bats like Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto reset expectations around elite power production in Japan — reinforcing how valuable true middle-of-the-order impact has become in that environment. Reyes fits that mold with a different level of physicality and a proven track record — including multiple 30+ HR seasons across MLB and NPB — which is why evaluators see a profile that translates across both markets.”

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There are multiple points of confusion, though.

There had been no buzz about this during the offseason, yet it showed up now only a week into the campaign.

The idea of Reyes getting $10 million or more per year also has left some fans a bit confused.

It would be fascinating if it’s real news, though. Reyes was always a bit of a beloved figure, particularly in Cleveland, due to his size and raw power.

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Since going to Japan to play with the Nippon Ham Fighters, Reyes has 59 home runs in 239 games and an overall .891 OPS.

His career MLB OPS was .775, so there’s a case to be made for bringing him back stateside.

Reyes turns 31 in July, so conceptually he has some thump left in his bat.

One other complicating factor — it would be unprecedented for a player to leave NPB midseason to come to MLB.

So maybe it’s a joke. But there’s potentially some truth to it, too, at least in the idea that MLB teams would be open to seeing if Reyes wants to return.

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