Japanese Pitcher Shōta Imanaga Will Reportedly Be Posted to MLB Teams This Offseason
Japanese starting pitcher Shōta Imanaga will be posted to free agency for MLB teams this coming offseason, according to a report from MLB.com's Jon Morosi on Wednesday.
Imanaga currently plays for the Yokohama DeNa Baystars of Nippon Professional Baseball, and he pitched for Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic back in March. Imanaga started the championship game against Team USA, picking up the win after tossing 2.0 innings and allowing one earned run.
The 30-year-old left-hander is 7-4 with a 2.57 ERA, 0.945 WHIP and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 20 appearances this season. Over the course of his professional career – which dates back to 2016 – Imanaga is 74-54 with a 2.96 ERA, 1.068 WHIP and 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
Imanaga has a fastball, changeup, curveball and slider in his repertoire.
Imanaga and 2020 NL Cy Young Trevor Bauer have led Yokohama's starting rotation this year, powering the team to the fourth-best record in all of NPB. Both pitchers made the All-Star Game in July.
In addition to Imanaga, Orix Buffaloes pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and KBO outfielder Jung-hoo Lee are both expected to be posted as well.
International players over the age of 25 who have played nine professional seasons overseas are not subject to the posting system, but Imanaga has only played eight seasons to this point.
As a result, the Baystars will post Imanaga and receive a cut of whatever deal he gets from an MLB team. Yokohama will earn a release fee of 20% of Imanaga's contract if it less than $25 million, $5 million plus 17.5% of the amount over $25 million if it is between $25 million and $50 million, or $9.275 million plus 15% of the amount over $50 million if it exceeds that figure.
Imanaga and his representation will have 45 days to negotiate with MLB organizations once the Baystars post him to free agency – an increase from the 30 days that was standard in the past. If he is unable to ink a contract, Imanaga will return to Yokohama and cannot be posted again until next offseason. Imanaga would no longer be subject to the posting system come November 2024, though.
According to Yakyu Cosmopolitan, the Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays had scouts in attendance at one of Imanaga's starts in June.
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