Tatsuya Imai will be posted tomorrow, beginning the 45-day clock for teams such as the Yankees to ink him to an MLB deal.
Plenty of teams in baseball are expected to show interest in the right-hander, with a pretty heavy East Coast presence with the Mets, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Phillies as potential suitors.
One could argue that the Yankees, who haven’t signed an NPB player since Masahiro Tanaka ahead of the 2014 season, are the most hungry for his services.
Imai, who won’t turn 28 years old until next May, is considered by some to be the top Japanese free agent of this class, and will likely sign a larger deal than 1B Munetaka Murakami or 1B/3B Kazuma Okamoto.
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Tatsuya Imai Set To Be Officially Posted, Yankees Among Top Suitors
My understanding of the Tatsuya Imai sweepstakes is that the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team whom fans believe will sign every Japanese player, are not expected to be heavily involved.
Furthermore, Imai himself from what I’ve heard is not very interested in going to the Dodgers, and while as a Scott Boras client I’d expect the top dollar to win out, that rules out some previous outcomes the Yankees have had with NPB stars.
Shohei Ohtani wanted no business with New York and the Yankees, not even giving them the chance to be involved late in those sweepstakes, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto preferred to be a Dodger.
He received the same $325 million from the Mets and turned them down, Tatsuya Imai doesn’t have interest in using teams as leverage to then end up on the back-to-back World Series Champions.
There’s a more mixed perception of Tatsuya Imai inside the industry compared to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as he’s viewed as a no. 2 by some and more of a backend guy by others.
His outlier swing-and-miss rates paired with his unique slider make me a fan of the right-hander and how he’d see his production translate to Major League Baseball.
Furthermore, his young age and durable past make him safer bets than Kodai Senga or Shota Imanaga, which is what could drive the Yankees to make a nine-figure offer for his services.
I’ve reported that the Yankees will aggressively pursue Tatsuya Imai, and I am under the impression that nothing has changed on that front as the real sweepstakes for his services begin.
New York has missed time-and-time again on Japanese stars, and they’re hoping for a different outcome with Tatsuya Imai this upcoming winter.