Source: Mets Recently Scouted Teruaki Sato, Hiroto Saiki

The New York Mets are among the teams eyeing this pair of Nippon Professional Baseball stars.

According to a source, the Mets recently scouted third baseman/outfielder Teruaki Sato and ace pitcher Hiroto Saiki of the Hanshin Tigers in Japan.

The Mets were one of the many teams that scouted Sato earlier in the season as well. Sato, 27, won the Central League MVP Award in 2025 after crushing 40 home runs, driving in 102 RBI and producing a .924 OPS in 139 games.

Sato is having another big year in 2026, slashing .324/.405/.617 with an 1.022 OPS, 21 home runs and 64 RBI in 88 games.

As for Saiki, the right-hander is 7-4 with a 2.77 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 120 strikeouts in 16 outings and 97.1 innings this year. The 27-year-old had sub-2.00 ERAs in back-to-back seasons in 2024 and 2025.

It's not typical for teams in NPB to post two players from the same club. The expectation is that it will be Sato who gets posted this offseason. Saiki had his posting request denied by the Tigers last year.

The Mets could certainly use Sato to boost their infield and he would be a nice power bat in their lineup. They could also use Saiki, whenever he gets posted, as a piece in their young rotation.

The last big splash signing the Mets made from NPB was right-handed starter Kodai Senga in the 2022-2023 offseason. The Mets inked Senga to a five-year, $75 million deal under then GM Billy Eppler.

While Senga got off to a great start to his career, finishing as the runner-up for NL Rookie of the Year in 2023, he has been thrown off track by injuries and underperformance the last three seasons.