{"id":505187,"date":"2026-01-04T14:57:53","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T14:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/505187\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T14:57:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T14:57:53","slug":"kona-takahashi-could-reportedly-return-to-japan-as-mlb-signing-deadline-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/505187\/","title":{"rendered":"Kona Takahashi could reportedly return to Japan as MLB signing deadline looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tatsuya Imai and Munetaka Murakami are headed to the majors<\/a> \u2014 but one of the remaining Japanese players negotiating with MLB teams might not follow.<\/p>\n

Right-handed pitcher Kona Takahashi, a longtime teammate of Imai<\/a> with Nippon Professional Baseball\u2019s Seibu Lions, is weighing a return to Japan for the 2026 season, according to MLB.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The soon-to-be 29-year-old\u2019s posting window closes on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

\"Right-handed<\/p>\n

Right-handed pitcher Kona Takahashi is reportedly weighing a return to Japan as his deadline to sign with an MLB team approaches. Instagram\/Kona Takahashi<\/p>\n

Takahashi reportedly has at least one offer from an unidentified major league club, but he could choose a multiyear contract to return to Seibu \u2014 one that would include an opt-out to explore MLB opportunities again in 2027, per the report.<\/p>\n

Though he lacks Imai\u2019s star billing, Takahashi has become one of NPB\u2019s most reliable starters.<\/p>\n

\"Takahashi\u2019s<\/p>\n

Takahashi\u2019s longtime Seibu Lions teammate, Tatsuya Imai, agreed to a three-year contract with the Houston Astros on New Year\u2019s Day. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Last season, he went 8-9 with a 3.04 ERA in 24 outings, bouncing back from a difficult 2024 in which he posted an 0-11 record with a 3.87 ERA across 15 starts.<\/p>\n

From 2022-23, he was among the league\u2019s best pitchers, going a combined 22-16 with a 2.20 ERA and 1.13 WHIP over 49 games.<\/p>\n

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Takahashi has shown top-tier command \u2014 walking just 6.7 percent of hitters last year and carrying a 3.3 walks per nine innings mark for his career \u2014 but he has never been a prolific strikeout arm, never exceeding 128 punchouts in a season.<\/p>\n

\"Fellow<\/p>\n

Fellow countryman Munetaka Murakami signed a two-year deal with the White Sox nearly two weeks ago. Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 2025, he struck out 88 hitters across 148 innings.<\/p>\n

The market for Japanese players has not unfolded as expected this offseason; Murakami, a prolific slugger and Imai, arguably the NPB\u2019s best arm, settled for short-term, opt-out heavy deals.<\/p>\n

Imai agreed to a three-year deal worth up to $63 million with the Astros on New Year\u2019s Day, holding an opt-out after each season.<\/p>\n

\"Much<\/p>\n

Much like Takahashi, Yomiuri Giants corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto must sign with a team by Jan. 4. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Murakami, who owns the NPB single-season record for most homers hit by a Japanese-born player, inked a two-year, $34 million deal with the White Sox<\/a> containing an opt-out after the first year.<\/p>\n

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Another player seeking to join the majors, Yomiuri Giants corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto, is also in talks with teams.<\/p>\n

Okamoto, 29, has been one of NPB\u2019s premier sluggers, swatting at least 27 homers from 2018 through 2024. Injuries limited him in 2025, but he still slashed a strong .327\/.416\/.598 with 15 homers in 69 games.<\/p>\n

The Pirates, Cubs, Jays, Red Sox and Angels have all expressed interest in Okamoto, The Post\u2019s Jon Heyman reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Okamoto and Takahashi share a Jan. 4 deadline to sign with a team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tatsuya Imai and Munetaka Murakami are headed to the majors \u2014 but one of the remaining Japanese players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2302],"tags":[5,54,2372,5572,43745,4,73,2353,2352,89,3944,4658,396],"class_list":{"0":"post-505187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-npb","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-houston-astros","10":"tag-japan","11":"tag-japanese-players","12":"tag-kona-takahashi","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-munetaka-murakami","15":"tag-nippon-professional-baseball","16":"tag-npb","17":"tag-red-sox","18":"tag-seibu-lions","19":"tag-tatsuya-imai","20":"tag-white-sox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115837423199944689","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}