Tatsuya Imai Reportedly Signs $54M Astros Contract, Updated Starting Rotation
Tatsuya Imai is officially coming to Major League Baseball after agreeing to a deal with the Houston Astros, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
ESPN's Jesse Rogers added that Imai will sign a three-year deal with opt-outs with the Astros that will include the largest average annual value for a Japanese pitcher outside of Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Heyman reported that he will receive $18 million per year with $3 million in possible bonuses, giving him $54 million guaranteed and a maximum value of $63 million.
Houston's starting rotation will now look like this:
SP: Hunter Brown, Tatsuya Imai, Ryan Weiss, Spencer Arrighetti, Ronel Blanco
The 27-year-old Imai has been playing professional baseball since 2017 with the Seibu Lions in NPB. He struggled early in his career, including a career-high 5.55 ERA in 2020, before finally putting all the pieces together in 2021.
Since the start of the 2021 season, Imai hasn't had an ERA over 3.69 and made the All-Star team three times. He has averaged more than one strikeout per nine innings in each of the past four seasons.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network reported on Nov. 10 that the Lions were going to post Imai. He was not subject to international free-agent rules as a player over the age of 25 with at least six years of pro experience.
As successful as Imai has been in NPB, FanGraphs' Eric Longenhagen and James Fegan noted he "might find another gear in MLB" because his current delivery doesn't take full advantage of his "special athleticism and flexibility."
In his scouting report for MLB.com, Mark Feinsand wrote that Imai has a six-pitch mix with a mid-90s fastball. Longenhagen and Fegan added the right-hander has the stuff to be a quality mid-rotation starter in the big leagues.
Imai joins a Houston rotation that will likely lose No. 1 starter Framber Valdez to the open market this winter. Hunter Brown emerged as a reliable arm at the top of the rotation, going 12-9 with a team-best 2.43 ERA and 206 strikeouts. The Astros ranked 11th in the majors with a collective 3.86 ERA and third with 70 quality starts.
Unfortunately, Houston's strong pitching wasn't enough for a postseason appearance. The Astros went 87-75 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Adding Imai gives Houston one of the top prizes of this year's free-agent class, so the team will certainly be motivated to bounce back in a big way in 2026.
