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Tatsuya Imai, a 28-year-old right-hander from Tochigi, Japan, is now a major league free agent. The eight-year veteran of the Saitama Seibu Lions in the Nippon Professional Baseball Pacific League entered the posting system for players looking to transfer from the Japanese and Korean leagues on Monday, according to a report by CBS Sports. According to one report, the New York Yankees are "highly motivated" to bring the NPB ace to the Bronx and will be "aggressive" in their efforts to sign him. But they will face heavy competition in the race to acquire Imai, with the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and of course Los Angeles Dodgers all rumored to have interest in the Lions pitcher who recorded an impressive 1.92 ERA with five complete games and three shutouts in 163 2/3 NPB innings this season. The 5-foot-11, 154-pound Imai throws a mix of six pitches, but is more than simply a deception specialist. His four-seam fastball has been clocked as high as 99.4 mph, according to statistics posted by Yakyu Cosmopolitan. Imai is also known for his Vulcan changeup, an 81 mph off-speed pitch thrown by gripping the ball between the middle and ring fingers of his right hand. The Athletic already ranks Imai 10th overall on its list of the top 50 free agents this offseason — but fourth among all available pitchers. "The 28-year-old Imai is not Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He isn’t hitting the market at 25, he doesn’t have the same high-level stuff, and he hasn’t overwhelmed NPB the way Yamamoto had," wrote Athletic baseball analyst Tim Britton. "Relative to NPB, Imai’s ERA and strikeout rate align well with those of (Kodai) Senga, Yusei Kikuchi, and Hiroki Kuroda before they debuted in MLB. He’s as hard a thrower as anyone who’s made that jump, complementing a fastball in the mid- to upper-90s with a slider, splitter and changeup." More MLB: Red Sox Warned Against Signing ‘Japanese Babe Ruth’ For One Specific Reason Britton projects that Imai will be in line for an eight-year contract at total value of $190 million. Baseball journalist Francys Romero, who reports on international players for his Baseball FR newsletter, on Sunday wrote that the Yankees will be "among the favorites" to reel in Imai. According to Ryan Garcia, reporter for Empire Sports Media, "New York would like to get back into the NPB market" and "sources are telling Empire Sports Media that the organization is ‘highly motivated’ to pursue and land Imai." "I expect other East Coast teams to be involved such as the Blue Jays and Mets, who have clear needs in the rotation, but the (Yankees) organization seems to be committed to not being a bridesmaid in a pursuit of a Japanese star again," Garcia wrote on Monday. One stumbling block for teams looking into shelling out the cash for Imai — whose cost includes a posting fee paid to the Lions of roughly 20 percent of Imai's final contract value — is likely to be his record of effectiveness against right-handed hitters, as opposed to left-hand swingers who have caused him problems in his career. But according to a Yakyu Cosmopolitan analysis, Imai "took a big step forward against" lefties in 2025, relying more heavily on his changeup and split-finger fastball against them — as well adding the Vulcan later in the season.
