MLB Insiders Project Shota Imanaga's Potential Contract as Posting Window Winds Down

In the latest edition of their newsletter, "The Windup," The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Levi Weaver provided some critical updates on Japanese left-handed pitcher Shota Imanaga's free agency.

Rosenthal and Weaver reported that Imanaga could net a deal worth at least $100 million, based on the building buzz among agents and executives. Whatever deal Imanaga signs would had to be agreed upon before Jan. 11, which is when his 45-day posting window ends.

The team that signs Imanaga would also have to pay the Yokohama DeNA BayStars a posting fee. A $100 million contract would come paired with a $16.875 million posting fee, for example.

A contract of that size would denote a massive payday for Imanaga, although it is less than one-third of what the Los Angeles Dodgers gave Yoshinobu Yamamoto last month.

According to Rosenthal and Weaver, the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants are expected to be the top contenders to reel in Imanaga. None of those suitors are particularly surprising, however, given the numerous reports that have surfaced surrounding Imanaga's free agency over the past month.

If Imanaga can't come to terms with any of those teams before next Thursday night, he will return to Yokohama for another season. He would be able to skirt the posting system next winter, but it is highly unlikely that negotiations fall apart to the point where he is forced into that scenario.

Imanaga spent the last eight seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, and he pitched for Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic in March 2023. Imanaga started the championship game against Team USA, picking up the win after tossing 2.0 innings and allowing one earned run.

The 30-year-old southpaw went 7-5 with a 2.66 ERA, 1.019 WHIP and 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 24 appearances as a member of the BayStars last season. Over the course of his professional career – which dates back to 2016 – Imanaga is 74-55 with a 2.96 ERA, 1.076 WHIP and 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

On top of parroting The Athletic's staff drawing parallels between Imanaga, Hiroki Kuroda and Hisashi Iwakuma, Rosenthal and Weaver also compared him to Kodai Senga, who signed a five-year, $75 million deal with the Mets last winter.

Senga was an All-Star this past season, finishing second in NL Rookie of the Year voting and seventh in NL Cy Young voting. Rosenthal and Weaver aligned the two due to their age and similar levels of success in Japan, rather than their actual pitching acumen.