NEWSLETTER
In what has already been a pretty significant back-and-forth-and-forth-and-back free agent pursuit, we will know soon where Shota Imanaga is going. The Japanese lefty is being posted by his NPB team, and that posting period expires in three days. A deal must be completely done before close of business on January 11.
Depending on your preferred source, the finalists for Imanaga include some mix of the Cubs, Giants, Angels, Red Sox, and Mets. And depending on your source from there, all have expressed some level of pessimism that they are the team that will ultimately land him.
Bidding on Shota Imanaga has been rumored to reach the nine digits, and with a posting fee factored in, you could be talking about a $120+ million total commitment for five-ish years, or nearly $50 million MORE than Kodai Senga got last year from the Mets, despite the pitchers’ comparable track records in Japan at the same age. Either teams believe Imanaga is even more likely to translate well to MLB, or Senga’s success created more optimism for Imanaga’s transition, or the price of pitching has simply gone way up (it’s probably at least two of those three things).
Anyway, the latest on the race to land him comes from Mark Feinsand, who writes that it’s looking like the San Francisco Giants at the moment:
“The Giants, Red Sox, Cubs and Angels have been tabbed by sources as the finalists for Imanaga, but according to one source, San Francisco might be emerging as the favorite.
‘It’s all pointing to the Giants,’ the source said. ‘They missed out on [Shohei] Ohtani and [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto, and although Imanaga isn’t on the same level as those guys, they don’t want to miss out again.'”
I’m sure the source there is using more than just superficial logic to come to the conclusion, otherwise I think you could pretty casually disregard that particular train of logic. The Giants missed on two Japanese superstars, so they are definitely going to make sure they don’t miss on a very good mid-rotation Japanese pitcher? … also, it’s not like they haven’t done a lot this offseason, including signing Korean star outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee, and trading for former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray. They could and should and will do more, but I’m not sure I see this situation as one where they ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO LAND IMANAGA NO MATTER WHAT.
Also note that there was some reporting this weekend from Jim Bowden that the Giants weren’t focused on Imanaga and instead were looking elsewhere. Robert Murray just reported on a live stream that, although they are interested in Shota Imanaga, they are also interested in Marcus Stroman (which makes the timing of the Stroman-Yankees report all the more interesting).
So, then, I think this is probably a keep-your-eyes-on-the-Giants situation, and they may indeed be the favorite. They have the need, the money, and the geography – plus maybe they could pitch the idea that Imanaga gets to compete in the NL West *against* Ohtani and Yamamoto. But here’s hoping the Cubs are still seriously involved. Just a few days left.
