(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto was officially posted to MLB teams this week, according to several sources.
Teams will now have 45 days to negotiate and finalize a contract with him.
He might be the biggest and most famous name coming over from Japan for the upcoming 2024 season.
That doesn’t mean he is the only one, though.
Many people forget that Shota Imanaga, a left-handed star in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league, will also be posted.
When?
MLB insider Mark Feinsand has more details.
“Shota Imanaga, who started the WBC championship game for Japan, is expected to be posted between now and Monday. That would put his timeline to sign roughly a week behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the three-time Sawamua Award winner expected to land a deal worth at least $200 million,” he tweeted.
In case there is any confusion, Feinsand clarified that Yamamoto is the one expected to flirt with $200 million.
For Imanaga, he says the industry projects a similar contract to the one the New York Mets gave last offseason to Kodai Senga: five years and $75 million.
Apparently my wording has confused some, so allow me to clarify. Yamamoto is expected to land a deal worth at least $200M, not Imanaga. Industry types are projecting a deal similar to Kodai Senga’s (5/$75M) for Imanaga. https://t.co/EFwHlOOllc
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 22, 2023
Yamamoto costs significantly more, basically because he is younger (25) and better than Imanaga.
Imanaga, however, is very good in his own right, with a strong 2.66 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and a 188/24 K/BB ratio in 159 innings (24 starts) this past season in Japan.
He is 30 years old, so he should at least have several productive seasons ahead of him.
He was a member of the Japanese national baseball team that won their third World Baseball Classic in the spring and has had a really good career in his native country.
His stuff is also rock-solid.
All things considered, he could be a nice consolation prize for some contender.
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