The Major League Baseball GMs' meeting was held in Las Vegas on the 11th (12th Japan time). In an interview, Padres GM AJ Preller expressed a positive attitude toward negotiations regarding pitcher Tatsuya Imai, who is seeking a major league shot from Seibu Lions via the posting system, saying, "We'll be fully prepared when he's posted."
GM Preller visited Japan this season to observe Imai's pitching. "He has a great arm, great athleticism, and can maintain his velocity. His control is also improving. His continued growth is a testament to his diligence and adaptability," he said.
This offseason, the Padres announced that King and Cease became free agents, and Darvish will miss the entire season due to surgery. Their starting pitching is an area of focus for improvement. Seibu announced on the 9th (10th Japan time) that it would approve Imai's use of the posting system.
He also explained that he receives advice from Darvish regarding information on Japanese players. "Darvish is not only a great pitcher, but also an excellent scout. We always ask for his opinion, and we plan to use his insights again this offseason," he said.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/50a68af1bc755d8fafae7fba68958f006ada9ca8
27 comments
Wasn’t he fully prepared to sign Sasaki?
NPB pitcher just after best season in his career
I think this is a good pick
Thanks for posting this! 🙏
So he’s going to LA.
Would love to have this guy on the padres.
I believe!
What I’m reading here is that we have money to spend for pitching. Whether we get him or not that’s a positive in my eyes
Regardless of whether of not we sign Imai, the fact that we’re targeting a big time free agent for the first time in years is a great sign! Shows that we at least have some money to spend in the offseason, just a matter of who we land.
No Japanese player is passing up the chance to play with Ohtani. He is godlike over there. Only way the Padres land a player from Japan is if they don’t get an offer from the Dodgers
We will see what happens I guess 🤷
Imai to Dodgers confirmed
2026 Headline: “Dodgers acquire Tatsuya Imai in blockbuster deal of $4 morbillion dollars.”
Bait to get your hopes up that is
Here we go
well LA has to run out of roster spots eventually so some of these pitchers are going to have to sign elsewhere.
AJ is fully prepared for Imai to not pick the padres
Don’t do that. Don’t get my hopes up.
Never hyping on foreign players ever again. It’s an allowed pipeline for the wealthy franchises to buy the series, same as always.
Get Imanaga first, and make SD more appealing. Otherwise dip into the Mexico market, there’s plenty of talent in LMB.
Darvish needs to just become our Japanese liaison and help us lure top talent. He should also become the assistant pitching coach next season while he’s injured
At some point one of these guys has to be competitive enough to not want to be 2nd or 4th fiddle to Ohtani et. al. Still, not getting any hopes up.
Not even gonna bother getting my hopes up. Overpaying for a Boras client will handicap the team financially.
We’ll end up with some fringe free agents and Niebla will do his magic, and i’ll be happy enough with that.
He’s going to be a cub
I’m ready for my heart to be broken again.