The free agent market in MLB still offers teams many alternatives of all prices if they want to upgrade their pitching staff.
The reigning NL Cy Young winner, Blake Snell, is still available, as is World Series champ Jordan Montgomery.
Other accomplished pitchers such as Marcus Stroman, Clayton Kershaw, Brandon Woodruff, Zack Greinke, Michael Lorenzen, Mike Clevinger, and Trevor Bauer remain up for grabs.
There is, however, a Japanese hurler with an impressive career in the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) who is being heavily coveted by MLB teams: left-hander Shota Imanaga.
Imanaga is a fine alternative to teams that missed out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Sonny Gray, and some of the best starters in the market.
According to MLB insider Jeff Passan, he is likely to sign for more than $100 million in free agency.
“Shota Imanaga is expected to land a deal north of $100M in free agency, per @JeffPassan,” B/R Walk-Off tweeted.
Shota Imanaga is expected to land a deal north of $100M in free agency, per @JeffPassan pic.twitter.com/tLGv3lS8vO
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) January 3, 2024
By now, it’s almost a lock that Imanaga’s contract will be significantly pricier than the one Kodai Senga signed last year with the New York Mets.
That was a five-year, $75 million deal.
Of course, it won’t come near the one Yamamoto inked with the Los Angeles Dodgers in September, a mammoth 12-year, $325 million commitment, but $100 million is a very nice payday for a pitcher who has never thrown a ball in the majors.
Imanaga, who is 30 years old, has a 3.18 ERA in 1002.2 innings in Japan.
His bat-missing prowess is evidenced by the 1,021 strikeouts he has achieved over that span.
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