Cardinals Free Agent Pitch For Japanese Ace Tatsuya Imai

The St. Louis Cardinals have been building a stockpile of starting pitching this offseason.

St. Louis got Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins from the Boston Red Sox, who very well could impact the club at the big league level in 2026. The Cardinals also acquired three pitching prospects across the Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras trades.

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The Cardinals also signed Dustin May, but president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom hasn't shut down the idea of adding more pitching. If St. Louis wants to add someone who could move the needle -- and also become a massive trade chip -- one hurler the club should target is Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai.

The Cardinals should target Tatsuya Imai

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The 27-year-old is coming off a season where he logged a 1.92 ERA in 24 appearances for the Seibu Lions. Imai has to sign a deal with a big league team by Friday before his posting period ends or he will return to Japan for the 2026 campaign. That would be somewhat surprising, especially because The Athletic's Katie Woo and Will Sammon reported that Imai is meeting with teams this week.

"Pitcher Tatsuya Imai’s posting deadline is Jan. 2, while corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto’s posting deadline to sign with an MLB team is Jan. 4," Woo and Sammon wrote. "Agent Scott Boras represents both players from Japan. Both players traveled to the U.S. to meet with teams. A few teams already met recently with Imai in Los Angeles, league sources said. Additional meetings are expected this week. It is typical for a player to reach an agreement with a club a couple of days before the actual deadline to allow time for things such as a physical."

There was a time when Imai seemed poised for a massive deal in free agency. Yoshinobu Yamamoto set the standard when he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers. He landed a 12-year, $325 million with Los Angeles. While Imai wasn't expected to get a deal like that, it seemed like some sort of big deal was coming. The market hasn't developed the same for the Japanese stars coming over this offseason.

For example, Munetaka Murakami settled for a two-year, $34 million deal with the Chicago White Sox. If Imai's market collapses to a level like Murakami's, the Cardinals should absolutely should strike. He has massive upside and is young. If the Cardinals could get him on a short-term deal, that would be a steal and like May could give the club another potential trade chip.

Imai's market closes on Friday and the Cardinals should throw their hat in the ring.

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