Tatsuya Imai Joins the Houston Astros with a Million-Dollar Contract
Japanese right-handed pitcher Tatsuya Imai has signed a three-year deal with the Houston Astros, the team announced on Friday. The contract includes opt-out options after the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The agreement has a guaranteed value of $54 million and could reach $63 million. The terms of the contract were initially reported by MLB Network. Imai, 27 years old, became one of the most interesting free agents this winter due to his similarities to prominent players from the 2025 season.In the 2025 season, Imai had an outstanding performance with the Seibu Lions of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), recording a 10-5 record with an ERA of 1.92 and 178 strikeouts in 163⅔ innings. The right-handed pitcher is known for his powerful fastball and has played his entire career in Japan. On April 18, he pitched eight innings of a combined no-hitter against Fukuoka and struck out 17 batters against Yokohama on June 17, breaking Daisuke Matsuzaka’s team record of 16 from 2004. Imai has significantly improved his control in recent seasons, reducing his walks per nine innings from 5.1 in 2022 to 2.5 in 2025. His fastball sits between 93 and 97 mph, reaching 99 mph. Furthermore, he has maintained an ERA below 3.00 for the last four seasons in the NPB. In eight seasons with Seibu, he had a record of 58-45 with an ERA of 3.15, accumulating 907 strikeouts in 963⅔ innings. He is a three-time All-Star. Imai’s similarities to Yamamoto, a renowned right-handed pitcher in his mid-20s, with a better-than-average walk rate and an ERA below 2.00 in his final NPB season, boosted his market value. The Imai slider has a movement towards the arm side instead of the typical movement towards the glove side. However, he effectively used this pitch in 2025, achieving above-average results with a 45% whiff rate and an expected wOBA of .212. Yesavage, the Toronto Blue Jays rookie, has a slider with this unusual shape and relies on a splitter as his best breaking pitch, which is also true for Imai. MLB teams that sign players through the posting system must pay a fee to the Asian team from which the player is transferred: 20% for the first $25 million, 17.5% for the next $25 million, and an additional 15% for each dollar exceeding $50 million. Seibu will receive a posting fee of $9.675 million from the Astros and a supplementary fee of 15% of any earned bonuses, salary escalators, and exercised options. Imai will not be subject to a qualifying offer, so the Astros will not have to forfeit draft compensation as they would for free agent starting pitchers.Certainly, he has accomplished everything Yamamoto has done.
Scott Boras
