With the offseason already starting to ramp up, the New York Yankees have remained relatively quiet in terms of making big moves. Their only signings thus far have been minimal, bringing back left-handed reliever Ryan Yarbrough on a one-year deal and center fielder Trent Grisham on a qualifying offer. This doesn’t mean, however, that a blockbuster move isn’t on the horizon.
New York is one of the favorites to land highly coveted outfielder Kyle Tucker, as well as one of the top contenders to bring back Cody Bellinger. But, according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, the Yankees are also one of the top landing spots for one of the top free agents coming out of Japan this winter: Tatsuya Imai. The right-handed pitcher is generally considered the best hurler out of this year’s class of NPB players coming over to the big leagues, and for good reason. The 27-year-old tossed 163 ⅔ innings for the NPB’s Saitama Seibu Lions, striking out 178 batters with a 1.92 ERA.
Yankees Should Heavily Pursue Tatsuya Imai
Never Enough Starters
Starting pitching is, on paper, perhaps one of the biggest strengths in the Yankees’ roster. With Gerrit Cole returning next spring, Carlos Rodon, Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Luis Gil, New York arguably has too many starting pitchers. It looks like adding Imai would only make a crowded room even fuller, but there are actually a couple of reasons why bringing in another pitcher like Imai would be a huge move for the Yankees, and could make them an instant contender in the American League.
The Yankees are expected to “earnestly pursue” Tatsuya Imai this offseason as they search for another starter, according to Brendan Kuty
#Yankees pic.twitter.com/MbDmOaWXaS
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) November 26, 2025
Firstly, the Yankees should know how vital it is to have backup starting pitching. Last season, Cole, Schmidt, and Luis Gil all missed either most of or the entire year, leading to young guys like Warren and Schlittler stepping up to take their spots in the rotation. Cole, Rodon, and Schmidt won’t even be ready to start 2026, so there is already an open spot in New York’s rotation to start the year.
Lacking Internationally
But, perhaps most importantly, the Yankees have not signed a player out of Japan since Masahiro Tanaka in 2014. The Yankees had a solid history of bringing in Japanese players, with Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki, and Tanaka all donning the pinstripes in the late 2000s to early 2010s. But since signing Tanaka, the Los Angeles Dodgers have become the league’s juggernaut of Japanese talent, winning the sweepstakes for Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto all within the past three years. The landscape of MLB’s free agency is changing, and the Yankees clearly have not caught on to the fact that they’ll have to compete with the Dodgers in the international market if they want a chance to evenly match up against them.
Imai, unlike many of his predecessors, might not be joining the Dodgers. Rather, he has stated that he wants to “take them down”, implying that he would prefer to join a competitive team that could stack up well against Los Angeles. Teams like the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants have also been named as the top suitors for Imai, but the Yankees would arguably be the best place for him to go, as long as both parties are willing to put their money where their mouths are.
Tatsuya Imai has his eyes set on beating the Dodgers
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 24, 2025
Making a huge move like signing Imai would benefit the Yankees in more ways than one: it would not only solidify arguably the league’s deepest starting rotation, but it would also send a message to the league that the Yankees are not going to lie down and let their rapidly closing World Series window slip away from them.
Main Photo Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images
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