Tatsuya Imai turns down talk of joining Dodgers for a second time

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the team to beat in baseball. 

They never seem to be done adding firepower, as shown by their successful pursuit of star closer Edwin Diaz. However, as impressive as that might be on paper, Tatsuya Imai remains unfazed by Dave Roberts' team. If anything, the flamethrowing Japanese hurler has a desire to take down the best of the best, which is why he shut down the rumors about joining the Dodgers — again.

Tatsuya Imai doubles down on take about Dodgers 

"With the number of pitchers they already have, they don’t need me," Imai told Japanese outlet Sponichi Annex.

The 27-year-old had already said that he would love having a chance to beat the star-studded Dodgers, and not even watching them win another title changed his mind. Super agent Scott Boras told the media that Imai would meet with several teams after the Winter Meetings, so there should be more updates on his next move in the following days.

The Seibu Lions star owns a 3.15 ERA and three NPB All-Star selections in 103 NPB games. He's coming off striking out 178 hitters and logging a 1.92 ERA in 163.2 innings of work last season. 

His fastball sits in the 98-99 mph range, and the New York Yankees are reportedly keeping tabs on him, according to the New York Post. With Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon set to miss the start of the 2026 season and Clarke Schmidt being out for the year, he'd certainly be a prime addition to their decimated rotation.