The Toronto Blue Jays have come up short in their pursuit of Japanese stars the past few cycles.
While Shohei Ohtani was already an established big league star by the time the Blue Jays went after him, they tried their best to land superstar pitching prospect Roki Sasaki out of Japan last winter before he ultimately also signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Will coming up short in those sweepstakes make Toronto hesitant to pursue other Japanese stars or will they push their chips further into the table when it comes to negotiations after the team saw first-hand how important those players can be to winning championships?
If the Blue Jays are ready to go after another star pitcher coming over from Japan, then they’ll have an opportunity to do so this offseason with Tatsuya Imai set to be posted by his Nippon Professional Baseball team.
According to Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors, Imai’s NPB team, the Saitama Seibu Lions, announced that they are going to post the right-hander for major league teams to sign this winter. It’s not clear when he will officially be made available, but he is now going to be a free agent target across Major League Baseball.
Because he is 27 years old, Imai can be signed like a free agent instead of having to use international bonus pool money. Last offseason, since Sasaki was younger than the age-25 cutoff, Toronto had to go after him in that manner, which capped how much they could offer him.
Polishuk projects Imai will get something in the six-year, $150 million range. The team that signs him will also have to pay a posting fee to the Saitama Seibu Lions, which will increase the cost of this acquisition.
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Still, the cost could be worth it in this situation. While there are some evaluators out there who believe Imai will only be a back-end starter or even a reliever, there is a lot to like about his profile. As a three-time NPB All-Star, he is coming off a dominating season where he posted a 1.92 ERA across 24 outings and 163 2/3 innings. He also hasn’t finished with an ERA above 3.00 since 2021.
And despite his slight frame, he still has a four-seam fastball that sits in the mid-90s and can reach up to 99 mph. Imai pairs that with an elite slider and two other pitches to build out a high-end arsenal. He also has a 22.31% strikeout rate and has reduced his walk rate each of the past four seasons.
General manager Ross Atkins stated the Blue Jays will be looking at adding starting pitching this winter. So if they already have their sights set on accomplishing that goal, then finally making a splash in the Japanese market by landing Imai could be beneficial in both the short and long term.