Japanese Postings Give Astros More Free Agency Options

Two more players from Japanese baseball were posted on Monday, giving the Houston Astros more options as they attempt to sift through this offseason’s free agents.

Pitcher Shota Imanaga, who plays for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yokohama BayStars, and pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa of NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fighters, were posted by their respective teams on Monday, making them available to all 30 MLB teams.

Per the posting rules Imanaga and Uwasawa have 45 days to strike a deal with an MLB team, with that window set to close Jan. 11. Any team that signs either player will owe that NPB team a posting fee.

If either go unsigned, they revert back to their former clubs.

The Kyodo News reported Imanaga’s posting, while MLB.com reported Uwasawa’s posting.

Imanaga, a 30-year-old left-hander, has posted an ERA of less than three in two of his past five seasons. Since 2019 he has a 2.79 ERA, with a 26.2 percent strikeout rate and a 5.9 percent walk rate.

In 2023, he struck out nearly 30 percent of the hitters he faced in 148 innings, as he posted a 2.80 ERA. He walked just 3.8 percent of the hitters he faced. In 2022, he threw a no-hitter.

MLB Trade Rumors projects that Imanaga could get a five-year deal valued at $85 million.

Uwasawa, a right-hander who will turn 30 in January, doesn’t have Imanaga’s strikeouts stuff, as he has a 19.7 percent strikeout rate for his career. He has a solid walk rate (7.5 percent) and is coming off a 2023 in which he had a 2.96 ERA in 170 innings and walked just 5.9 percent of the hitters he faced.

He’s thrown more than 1,000 innings and has a career ERA of 3.19.

Imanaga and Uwasawa are the latest Asian players to be posted.

NPB superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto has already been posted by the Orix Buffaloes and has until Jan. 4 to get a deal done with an MLB team. The 25-year-old is expected to find a deal in excess of $200 million after throwing his second no-hitter this year. He has a career record of 70-29 and had a 1.21 ERA in 2023, with a 16-6 record and 169 strikeouts in 164 innings.

Outfielder Jung Hoo Lee, who plays for Kiwoom Heroes in Korean Professional Baseball, should be posted in December. Teams will have 30 days to sign him once he’s posted.

Lee has played in the KBO since he was 18 years old. He spent two years with Nexen before joining Kiwoom. He’s been an incredibly consistent hitter in the KBO, as he’s batted over .300 in each of his seven seasons and has a lifetime batting average of .340. He also has a .992 fielding percentage.