#tatsuya-imai

#tatsuya-imai

Here we are in 2026 (barely), and very little has happened since we discussed all the things that the Cubs should probably do in the last podcast. We do know that the Cubs got beat out for Tatsuya Imai because the Astros would give yearly opt-outs, which Jed Hoyer seems to be against for possibly justifiable reasons, and given that no other team bothered to outbid the Astros (or Cubs, for that matter), maybe it's for the best?

Per multiple reports, Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai has agreed to a deal with the Astros. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported that the deal is for three years with opt-outs after each of the first two seasons, and it will be the second-largest AAV for a Japanese pitcher in the posting process behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Chandler Rome of The Athletic tweeted that the deal maxes out at $63 million, making it only $21 million AAV.

Well the big news of the day was the Braves being linked in multiple spots to Tatsuya Imai. I have been pushing Imai a bit for the past few weeks for the Braves, as he makes a ton of sense. He wouldn't cost the 26th overall pick to sign him, which is a huge advantage over the other top starters on the market like Framber Valdez.

The next couple days will see at least two big-ticket free agents come off the board. Japanese stars Tatsuya Imai and Kazuma Okamoto are nearing the end of their respective 45-day posting windows. Imai has until Friday at 4:00 pm Central to sign; Okamoto's contract must be finalized by the same time on Sunday. Reporting out of Japan over the weekend revealed that Okamoto was traveling to the U.S. for a final round of in-person meetings.

Most baseball insiders believed that there was a ton of interest in the pitcher, though it has not materialized into a formal offer, according to the player himself. Apparently, there actually aren't many concrete options on the table yet, Imai said, speaking in Japanese, on the Japanese television station TV Asahi. And it seems that having teams show interest and receiving a formal offer are completely different things.

In a rare bit of major news breaking on Christmas Day, the A's have agreed to a seven-year, $86MM extension with left fielder Tyler Soderstrom. Between his increasingly strong numbers at the plate and the successful transition to left field, Soderstrom cemented his place as a building block for an Athletics team as they approach their next era in Las Vegas.

At the risk of banging the Michael King drum too loudly after already featuring him in another post from earlier today, I wanted to look more at why he is a perfect fit for what the Cubs do. CI has been told that Jed Hoyer is infatuated with Japanese fireballer Tatsuya Imai, who will likely be a priority because his posting window closes on January 2, but King appears to be a very close second when it comes to their offseason wishlist. Though his fastball doesn't jump off the page, it's the way King manipulates it and the rest of his pitches that makes him so intriguing.

One way they may attempt to do that? Go and get a guy who is being compared to Yesavage. The player drawing those comparisons is none other than free agent Japanese pitching sensation Tatsuya Imai, who will be playing in MLB for the first time in his career in 2026. The 27-year-old right hander has recently been compared to Yesavage by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel for what he brings to the table.

The 27-year-old projects as a third starter -- think an ERA in the mid-3.00s -- but there's still some risk for him to even hit that projection since the big leagues are still a step up from Japan's NPB. Imai is not that big, standing 5-foot-11, and though he has above-average control now, that hasn't always been the case. His walk rate was 5.1 BB/9 in 2022, then 4.1 in 2023, 3.6 in 2024 and 2.5 in 2025.

Scouts are comparing Imai to Kodai Senga, who signed with the Mets for five years and $75 million prior to the 2023 season. Senga was an All-Star in his first year in MLB but has dealt with injuries on and off for the last two seasons. When he's been healthy, he's been very good, as he's been worth 6.7 bWAR with a 3.00 ERA, 320 strikeouts and 285 innings pitched in 52 games.