DeNA BayStars approve posting of pitcher Shota Imanaga to MLB teams

On Saturday morning, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball officially announced the approval for posting of star Japanese pitcher Shota Imanaga to MLB teams. They conveyed, translated from Japanese Imanaga’s pending transfer to a Major League Baseball (MLB) team in the United States through ‘posting.’

The left-hander’s MLB free agency posting announcement is anticipated to be made on Monday, as indicated by the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. According to Heyman, the technical completion of Imanaga’s posting for MLB free agency will be after Monday.

Reports suggest that the New York Mets have expressed strong interest in Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but there is also potential for them to pursue Imanaga. SNY’s Danny Abriano opined that Imanaga could be a strong addition to the Mets’ rotation and may be a better long-term investment compared to other pitching options.

Imanaga’s performance in the 2023 season includes a 2.66 ERA over 159.0 innings with 188 strikeouts and a career-best walk rate of 1.4 per nine innings. His impressive stint in Japan for NPB resulted in a 64-50 record with a 3.18 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and an average of 9.2 strikeouts per nine and 2.5 walks per nine.

MLB Trade Rumors and SNY both highly rank Imanaga as an overall free agent target, with his potential contract projected to be in the five-year, $85 million range.