The New York Yankees enter the 2026 season in a familiar but uncomfortable position: searching for stability in a rotation riddled with injuries. With Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt, and Carlos Rodón all beginning the year on the injured list, part of the early workload will fall on Luis Gil and Will Warren—two talented yet inconsistent right-handers still learning how to navigate a full major league season.
That’s not exactly the blueprint for a contender, talented as those two pitchers are. So as the Yankees survey their offseason options, one intriguing possibility sits thousands of miles away in Japan.
Turning to Japan for answers
Instead of overpaying for aging free agents or sacrificing prized prospects in trades, the Yankees could take a creative swing at the international market. The Seibu Lions’ Tatsuya Imai, a 27-year-old right-hander in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), might be posted for MLB clubs. If that happens, New York should be ready to move fast.
Imai is not your typical “project” arm from overseas. He’s a proven NPB ace—polished, competitive, and blessed with a deep arsenal that could translate immediately. This season, he delivered a 1.92 ERA across 163.2 innings with 178 strikeouts, walking just 45. He’s been an All-Star three times (2021, 2024, 2025), and his command continues to improve each year.
A smaller frame, but big-league power
In September, ESPN’s Jeff Passan described Imai as “the hardest-throwing starter in Japan,” noting that his fastball sits around 95 mph and touches 99 despite a lean 5-foot-11, 154-pound frame. That kind of velocity paired with precision isn’t common, even among MLB starters. Imai also throws a vicious slider, a fading changeup, a splitter, and a newly developed sinker—giving him the kind of mix scouts drool over.
If anything, the recent success of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga has opened doors for pitchers like Imai, per Passan. Both are undersized by traditional MLB standards, yet each proved that elite command and competitiveness matter far more than body type. In that sense, Imai represents the evolution of the modern ace: smaller in stature, massive in impact.
The price of potential
Signing Imai won’t come cheap. Early projections from scouts and analysts suggest his contract could range anywhere between $80 million and $200 million, depending on bidding intensity and posting fees. Still, compared to Yamamoto’s astronomical deal with the Dodgers, Imai could present real value.
For the Yankees, it’s the kind of calculated risk that could pay off for years. They’ve spent heavily before, but this would be a smarter kind of spending—investing in a pitcher entering his prime rather than one leaving it.
Why the Yankees should pounce
In many ways, Imai fits what the Yankees have lacked: a young, power-armed starter who can set the tone every fifth day. If the Seibu Lions decide to post him, New York has the resources, reputation, and urgency to make a strong bid. The team’s rotation right now feels like a puzzle missing its centerpiece, and Imai could be that missing piece—a bridge between the uncertainty of April and the promise of October.
Like a spark plug dropped into a sputtering engine, Imai’s arrival could jolt the Yankees’ pitching staff back to life. The only question is whether they’ll move quickly enough to make it happen.