Red Sox Rumors: Shōta Imanaga Eyed; Passed on Eduardo Rodriguez amid Yamamoto Buzz

Having had a quiet offseason so far, the Boston Red Sox are keeping an eye on Japanese pitcher Shōta Imanaga.

Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network, the Red Sox are among many teams in on Imanaga after they opted to pass on bringing back Eduardo Rodriguez.

Heyman also noted Boston is in the mix for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Rodriguez, who pitched for the Red Sox from 2015 to '21, agreed to a four-year, $80 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Yamamoto is the biggest name among the Japanese pitchers who was posted for MLB teams this offseason.

The Athletic's Will Sammon reported on Wednesday that seven teams are still in the bidding for Yamamoto. The Red Sox weren't among the clubs named in the report, but it was noted there are two "unidentified" teams.

The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays were the teams identified by Sammon.

While most analysts anticipate Yamamoto will sign a deal worth at least $200 million, The Athletic's Jayson Stark noted it wouldn't be a surprise if the price tag ends up getting to $300 million.

Imanaga isn't the same caliber of pitcher as Yamamoto, but he's better than a consolation prize for a team that doesn't get Yamamoto.

Per The Athlietc's Eno Sarris, Imanaga had the best stuff+ numbers of any pitcher in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Stuff+ is an analytical tool that only measures the physical characteristics of a pitch, including release point, velocity, spin rate, horizontal and vertical movement.

The 30-year-old left-hander is a two-time All-Star in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. He led the Central League with 174 strikeouts and had a 2.80 ERA in 22 appearances last season.

Considering that Boston looks to be far behind everyone else in the American League East right now and only had one pitcher throw more than 130 innings last season, Imanaga's ability and upside would give the team something to build a rotation around.

The Red Sox ranked in the bottom 10 in MLB in ERA (4.68) and FanGraphs wins above replacement (9.1) from their starting rotation in 2023. They need more than one starter to be a playoff contender, but Imanaga would at least be a good start for a franchise in need of help.