Mets Rumors: Meeting with Japanese Star Koudai Senga in MLB Free Agency 'Went Well'

The New York Mets reportedly held a free-agent meeting with Japanese starting pitcher Koudai Senga, a three-time Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star.

Will Sammon of The Athletic reported Thursday that the meeting "went well" but noted the Mets face competition from "several teams" for the 29-year-old right-hander.

New York is facing some rotation uncertainty after Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker all entered free agency after the 2022 season.

Max Scherzer remains one of MLB's top aces and the club has a couple solid mid-rotation options in Carlos Carrasco and David Peterson, but there are two spots still up for grabs.

Senga is coming off a strong 2022 campaign with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the NPB club he's played for since 2012. He compiled a 1.94 ERA and 1.06 WHIP with 156 strikeouts in 144 innings across 22 appearances.

The five-time Japan Series champion features a fastball that can touch triple digits and a wipeout splitter that's an impressive out pitch, even for the MLB level.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported MLB executives and scouts are concerned about his lack of a third refined pitch, some fastball command issues and nagging elbow injuries during his time in Japan, though.

Colin Rea, a former MLB pitcher who's spent parts of the past two seasons as Senga's teammate in Japan, told Sherman he's confident the starter's skill set will translate favorably.

"[Senga] is one of the most talented, physically gifted players I've ever played with," Rea said. "His competitiveness on the mound is second to none and he works his butt off in between starts. He throws 100 and has a split that no one can touch. He's constantly trying to improve every day. His English also is improving. He could be a star in MLB."

MLB sources wondered whether Senga may ultimately be a better fit as a closer given his explosive fastball and two-pitch repertoire, per Sherman.

The ideal outcome for the Mets would be re-signing deGrom and adding Senga, which would allow the new arrival to open his tenure as the team's No. 4 or No. 5 starter, taking away a lot of the pressure that would come being higher up in the rotation.

A starting group of Scherzer, deGrom, Carrasco, Peterson and Senga would project as one of the league's best.

Ben Clemens of FanGraphs projected a four-year, $56 million contract for the Japanese star, which would come with some risk given the concerns raised by execs and scouts, but the Mets have shown a willingness to spend big money under owner Steve Cohen.

The good news from a financial perspective is that Senga is a standard free agent, meaning he's not linked to the standard posting process for players making the move stateside from Japan. So the contract will be the only fee associated with his move.

Senga, whose accolades also include a gold medal with Japan at the 2021 Summer Olympics, hasn't provided a timetable for picking his first MLB team.