Tatsuya Imai’s turn in the MLB

While the free agent market has been very quiet since it opened last week, the opposite is true on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

After Munetaka Murakami was made available to all Major League Baseball teams, the Saitama Seibu Lions have officially accepted Tatsuya Imai's request to be assigned to the MLB.

Manfred Tour teams will now have until mid-December to negotiate with the Japanese pitcher. If no agreement is reached within the next 45 days, he will return to the Lions for the 2026 NPB season.

Japanese RHP Tatsuya Imai will be officially posted this offseason, allowing MLB teams to sign him, per @yakyucosmo

The 27 year old Imai posted a career-best 1.92 ERA and 0.892 WHIP in 2025. Jeff Passan wrote in September that he could receive anywhere from $80M to $200M+ pic.twitter.com/RWD3VFXCUy

– Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) November 10, 2025

Imai thus becomes one of the three best pitchers available on the market along with Framber Valdez and Dylan Cease, who compiled a record of ten wins against five losses with an earned run average of 1.92 in 2025 in the land of the Rising Sun.

During his career with the Lions, the 27-year-old maintained a 3.15 earned-run average in 963 innings and two-thirds of work. His strikeout rate of 22.3% demonstrates a solid ability to thwart opposing hitters, while his on-base rate has steadily improved over the past few campaigns.

Nippon's four-pitch arsenal includes a 95-99 MPH fastball and a devastating slider.

Imai is expected to initial a six-year contract that could approach $150 million. The fee structure of the international system means that any team that signs Imai will pay the Lions extra money on top of the gunner's contract. In the case of a $150 million pact as mentioned above, the Japanese outfit would receive around $25 million.

According to Francys Romero, the New York Yankees are among the favourites to sign him.

This content was created with the help of AI.