The Houston Astros signed a strong free agent for their pitching rotation.
According to sources at ESPN, Japanese righty Tatsuya Imai has agreed to a free agent contract with the Houston Astros. That is reportedly a three-year contract with $54 in guarantees that could have a total value of $63 million. It comes following a great 2025 season for Imai with the Seibu Lions of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Imai went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA and 178 strikeouts to 45 walks in 163.2 innings pitched.
Imai’s agent made a smart choice to compare Imai to World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto during MLB general manager meetings back in November. The 27-year-old was viewed as one of the more interesting free agents this winter due to similarities drawn between him and Yamamoto, as well as another postseason standout, Trey Yesavage. In addition, there is a strong history of pitchers similar to Yamamoto and Imai from the NPB league over two decades. The two are both right-handed pitchers in their mid-20s, stand under six feet tall, have a sub-2.00 ERA in their last season in NPB, and boast a better-than-average walk rate.
Teams that sign players through the posting system must pay a transfer fee to the Asian team they’re signing their star from. That starts at 20% for the first $25 million, 17.5% for the next $25 million, and every dollar above $50 million carries an additional 15%. The Seibu Lions are set to get a posting fee from the Astros of $9.675 million with a supplemental fee of 15% of earned bonuses, salary escalators and exercised options.