The Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) announced their intention to post Shōta Imanaga for MLB free agency this winter.
With Imanaga posted for free agency, teams will have 45 days to negotiate with him and sign the left-handed pitcher.
Imanaga was selected by the BayStars with the first pick in the 2015 NPB Draft and ended up going 64-50 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.12 WHIP while striking out 1,021 and walking 280 over 1,002.2 innings in 165 games.
He also had 13 complete games and seven shutouts over eight NPB seasons.
The 30-year-old is coming off a strong season where he went 7-4 with a 2.80 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Imanaga also won the strikeout crown, finishing with 174 punchouts to only 24 walks while throwing 148 innings.
Imanaga represented Japan in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year and started in the Gold Medal Game against the United States.
During that start, the southpaw pitched two innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out two — Paul Goldschmidt and Cedric Mullins. His only run allowed was a home run to Trea Turner in the second inning.
Imanaga represents an intriguing pitcher on a market filled with talent but more than a dozen clubs looking to add at least one starter, and multiple teams looking for at least two arms to add to their rotation.
He should slot into the middle of a rotation and relies on multiple pitches, including a mid-90s fastball, splitter, curveball and a cutter/slider hybrid.
His fastball has a high spin rate, averaging 2,566 rpm during the WBC, which is roughly 300 rpm over the average MLB fastball and bodes well for his ability to get strikeouts.
Imanaga becomes the second pitcher from Japan to be posted this winter, joining Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Orix Buffaloes. Yamamoto is widely considered to be the top free agent pitcher on the market, while Imanaga ranks around the 10th spot by most evaluators.
Could the Dodgers sign Shōta Imanaga?
The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of the many teams looking for rotation help this offseason, so Imanaga should be on their radar.
However, the list of teams that don’t need to add a starter would be shorter to list than the teams that do, so Imanaga should have a good market as one of the better arms available.
The Dodgers will prioritize an impact arm for the top of their rotation, so Imanaga may be on the back burner for them while he ends up signing with a team who was more aggressive to land him.
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