There are a lot of very good free agents available for the New York Yankees to pursue, especially on the mound. One in particular that I would love the Yankees to go after is Tatsuya Imai.
Imai has proven during his lengthy professional career in Japan, and while still relatively young, that he can be one of the best starters in baseball if he comes over with similar stuff.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, however, it sounds like there’s a lot of competition for the right-hander.
According to the latest from Jon Heyman of the New York Post, and I added the Philadelphia Phillies’ interest here because I think it’s an important part, the Phillies and other teams around the league are showing interest in the right-hander.
“They’re trying to keep Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto, and also like star Japanese starter Tatsuya Imai (1.92 ERA this year), which shouldn’t be a surprise since they made a big play for Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
“The Yankees are among teams interested in Imai, who could visit with teams after the Winter Meetings if he isn’t signed by then. The Orioles, Pirates and hometown Reds are among others in on Schwarber,” he wrote.
As he touched on, the Phillies have attempted in the past to sign some of the top players from Japan.
While I still believe the Yankees are in a better position to land a player of Imai’s caliber rather than him going to Philadelphia, I don’t think the Phillies can be counted out in this scenario.
The Phillies have proven over the past few years that they are willing to do whatever it takes to win, so it’s very possible they come in with a better offer.
Regardless, the Yankees will need pitching this offseason.
As I spoke about with Matthew Schmidt on the Yankees RoundTable podcast, if the Yankees can make a play for someone of that caliber in free agency, it will allow them to move on from some of their top prospects and other big-league arms.
The Yankees would have one of the best rotations in baseball when healthy and could also use some of those assets to make trades in areas of need.