Tatsuya Imai is arguably the most intriguing free agent coming from Japan this offseason. Sports Nippon / Getty Images

Right-handed pitcher Tatsuya Imai, perhaps the most intriguing player coming out of Japan this winter, will be posted for MLB teams, his Seibu Lions announced on Monday. After the Nippon Professional Baseball team opens the process, Imai will have 45 days to reach an agreement with a major-league team.

Imai, 27, is smaller than the typical pitcher, listed at 5-feet-11 and 154 pounds. But recent success by diminutive Japanese pitchers could encourage major-league teams to offer him a substantial deal. The Athletic’s Tim Britton projects he’ll land an eight-year contract worth $190 million, reasoning that Imai’s NPB career strikeout rate was similar to that of Yusei Kikuchi when he signed with the Seattle Mariners as a 28-year-old in 2019.

Tatsuya Imai (27) will be posted this off-season.

2025 (NPB): 163.2 IP, 1.92 ERA, 0.892 WHIP, 9.8 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 9 CG

His fastball sits around 95 mph (98-99 max) with a devastating slider and a filthy splitter.

$120M-$200M projection

Future Yankee? 👀pic.twitter.com/xgF36SrE6U

— Jacob P.M.🌔 (@JacobBSpeaks) November 10, 2025

The New York Yankees are a likely suitor for Imai, who ranks as the No. 10 free agent on The Athletic’s Big Board. They will begin next season without Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt in the rotation. Cole and Schmidt will be returning from major elbow surgeries, so it’s uncertain if either will be able to regain his previous form and help keep the rotation afloat.

Although his stuff may not match that of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the World Series MVP who stands 5-foot-11 and dominated hitters this postseason, Imai still profiles as a mid-rotation starter, with the ceiling of a No. 2 guy.

Sporting a 1.92 ERA over 163 2/3 innings in 2025 and a career 3.15 ERA across eight seasons in NPB, Imai has established himself with an arsenal featuring a 95 mph fastball, a slider that this past season drew a 45 percent whiff rate, and a splitter, curveball and sinker. He struck out 27 percent of batters in his last two seasons. The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote in his ranking of free agents, “He does it with deception: he has a low three-quarters arm slot with an extremely low release height, helped by the fact that he is pretty tiny by MLB starter standards, and his fastball is just average if not a tick below.”

Nov 10, 2025

Connections: Sports Edition

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms

Find the hidden link between sports terms

Maria Torres is a senior editor for The Athletic. She joined The Athletic in 2021 to cover the Washington Nationals and then prospects, and previously worked for The Los Angeles Times covering the Los Angeles Angels and for The Kansas City Star covering the Kansas City Royals. Maria attended the University of Georgia and is from Puerto Rico. Follow Maria on Twitter @maria_torres3