Tatsuya Imai to the Astros

[chibears55]

8 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

Not sure it matters if you take Imai at his word of not wanting to be on a team with his kind.

Even if he 100% meant that, both Suzuki and Imanaga are likely gone after the season, so he'd only be playing with them for 1 season.

 Also I would hope he understands that these teams like Chicago, NewYork, LA and most others  are not going to just stop trying to add really good Japanese players just to appease him for however long he's with them. 

Out of curiosity I looked it up and there are actually 3 teams who hasn't signed a Japanese player from NPB, the Astros, Rockies, and Marlins. 

[Cuzi]

1 minute ago, chibears55 said:

Out of curiosity I looked it up and there are actually 3 teams who hasn't signed a Japanese player from NPB, the Astros, Rockies, and Marlins. 

Ok, but how many teams currently dont have any Japanese players.

No one comes to mind with the Yankees and if the Cubs and Yankees are on his final list, I have to give the edge to the Yankees.

[Jason Ross]

I believe his comments were clarified as him not being expressly drawn to a team with Japanese players, not that Japanese players would disqualify a team. 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I believe his comments were clarified as him not being expressly drawn to a team with Japanese players, not that Japanese players would disqualify a team. 

Yup. But the Cubs must take advantage and initiative to secure his position within the team.

Do you think that Imai would be a good idea, Jason? And how will he interact with Zombro's policies?

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, The Cubs Dude said:

Yup. But the Cubs must take advantage and initiative to secure his position within the team.

Do you think that Imai would be a good idea, Jason? And how will he interact with Zombro's policies?

I do quite like Imai. And think his low-arm-slot plays well into how the Cubs like to teach pitching. 

This is an article from Chris Langin, a former Driveline instructor. He specializes in NPB pitching. It's in Japanese but with the marvels of the internet, translation is easy as can be. His article is an excellent resource on what Imai can be at the MLB.

Article can be found here.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I do quite like Imai. And think his low-arm-slot plays well into how the Cubs like to teach pitching. 

This is an article from Chris Langin, a former Driveline instructor. He specializes in NPB pitching. It's in Japanese but with the marvels of the internet, translation is easy as can be. His article is an excellent resource on what Imai can be at the MLB.

Article can be found here.

Me too! And the article was interesting; I do agree that he has innate qualities that cannot be taught, and the VAA advantage would really work--the fastball is what we need for efficiency and less contact. That's what I thought would be a conflict between his ideals and Zombro's.

It's a geometry question--as the article said, something that is intuitive. His VAA does not possess as much velocity as, say Mizerable, but he still arguably masters it as expertly. He's anomalous. (And his IVB is correctly assumed as being below average until you see the bigger picture.)

That was the best article I read today--a great analytical palate. Thank you so much. This made me nerd out!

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, Cuzi said:

Ok, but how many teams currently dont have any Japanese players.

No one comes to mind with the Yankees and if the Cubs and Yankees are on his final list, I have to give the edge to the Yankees.

Ok, but do you think the Yankees will forfeit their right to go after Japanese players over the next couple years because of what Imai said?  I highly doubt it and I doubt Imai would expect them too.

I personally feel Imai just said what he'd prefers but realizes it not really something that guarenteed in today mlb with players posting every year, and especially with the Yankees.

 

[Cuzi]

45 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Ok, but do you think the Yankees will forfeit their right to go after Japanese players over the next couple years because of what Imai said?  I highly doubt it and I doubt Imai would expect them too.

I personally feel Imai just said what he'd prefers but realizes it not really something that guarenteed in today mlb with players posting every year, and especially with the Yankees.

 

Why would a team have to forfeit anything. All that matters is his apparent preference to start out as the only Japanese player on the team. How does that in any way effect a teams future dealing with Japanese players? You think he has the power to tell a team they are banned from bringing in more Japanese players? No. But what he does have is the power to say I like the Cubs and the Yankees but the Cubs already have 2 established Japanese players and the Yankees have none, I choose the Yankees.

Edited December 18, 2025 by Cuzi

[Rcal10]

42 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

Why would a team have to forfeit anything. All that matters is his apparent preference to start out as the only Japanese player on the team. How does that in any way effect a teams future dealing with Japanese players? You think he has the power to tell a team they are banned from bringing in more Japanese players? No. But what he does have is the power to say I like the Cubs and the Yankees but the Cubs already have 2 established Japanese players and the Yankees have none, I choose the Yankees.

Is it his “apparent preference “ or did he mean it to suggest another Japanese player on the team was not something he needed? I believe Jason suggested that was what he meant. He meant it to mean that it was not a prerequisite that there was another Japanese player on the team, not there can’t be one. 

[Cuzi]

6 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Is it his “apparent preference “ or did he mean it to suggest another Japanese player on the team was not something he needed? I believe Jason suggested that was what he meant. He meant it to mean that it was not a prerequisite that there was another Japanese player on the team, not there can’t be one. 

I put more stock into initial comments than I do damage control comments. Saying out loud that you dont want to sign on a team with current Japanese players is just bad business. If a team like the Yankees knew for a fact you had no intention of signing with a team like the Cubs, what is the incentive for them to up their offer?

I'm not saying that he for sure wont sign with the Cubs. But based on his past comments and the fact the Cubs and Yankees are named finalists, if I were a betting man I would put money on the Yankees.

Edited December 18, 2025 by Cuzi

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

I do quite like Imai. And think his low-arm-slot plays well into how the Cubs like to teach pitching. 

This is an article from Chris Langin, a former Driveline instructor. He specializes in NPB pitching. It's in Japanese but with the marvels of the internet, translation is easy as can be. His article is an excellent resource on what Imai can be at the MLB.

Article can be found here.

Do you speak Japanese, per chance? Or do you speak any languages, like Spanish? Those would be immensely useful in the baseball world!

Edited December 18, 2025 by The Cubs Dude

[CubinNY]

27 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

I put more stock into initial comments than I do damage control comments. Saying out loud that you dont want to sign on a team with current Japanese players is just bad business. If a team like the Yankees knew for a fact you had no intention of signing with a team like the Cubs, what is the incentive for them to up their offer?

I'm not saying that he for sure wont sign with the Cubs. But based on his past comments and the fact the Cubs and Yankees are named finalists, if I were a betting man I would put money on the Yankees.

It was more bad translation than anything else. 

[BKHoo]

Ooooh we are a finalist. Cubs v Yankees! 

[Rcal10]

5 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

Ooooh we are a finalist. Cubs v Yankees! 

Is this because you saw something else reporting cubs and Yankees the only 2 options, or are you catching up on our talk for a few pages? Any new reports? 

[Derwood]

I saw one writer predict he'd end up in San Fran, so who knows at this point

[chibears55]

2 hours ago, Cuzi said:

Why would a team have to forfeit anything. All that matters is his apparent preference to start out as the only Japanese player on the team. How does that in any way effect a teams future dealing with Japanese players? You think he has the power to tell a team they are banned from bringing in more Japanese players? No. But what he does have is the power to say I like the Cubs and the Yankees but the Cubs already have 2 established Japanese players and the Yankees have none, I choose the Yankees.

Rereading his statement, I think he was mainly referring to the Dodgers and their large contingent of adding Japanese players.

I dont think he was saying he wouldn't choose any team if they had Japanese players on them or play with Japanese players.

My point with Cubs and Yankees was just that eventhough the Cubs have 2 on roster, they both will likely be gone after this season, and just because the Yankees don't have one on their team now, doesn't mean they wont add one because of his preference. 

I do agree that between the two teams theres a high likelihood he would choose the Yankees but I don't think it would be because of Cubs currently having Japanese players and the Yankees dont.

Edited December 18, 2025 by chibears55

[BKHoo]

26 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Is this because you saw something else reporting cubs and Yankees the only 2 options, or are you catching up on our talk for a few pages? Any new reports? 

Sorry I’m sure I am behind and did not read this entire thread.  I just saw the ESPN story that it’s believed he is down to these two teams.  

[Rcal10]

13 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

Sorry I’m sure I am behind and did not read this entire thread.  I just saw the ESPN story that it’s believed he is down to these two teams.  

👍

[Post Count Padder]

44 minutes ago, Derwood said:

I saw one writer predict he'd end up in San Fran, so who knows at this point

This feels like a scenario where at some point he will announce it himself on social media or we're gonna have a report bomb from Passan or Rosenthal (if it's Boob Nightengale we can ignore),

[Dfan25]

Any hope of him deciding before Christmas ?

[Bertz]

21 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Any hope of him deciding before Christmas ?

My understanding is that in Japan Christmas and Christmas Eve are fairly big, while New Years is huge.  So between that and the logistics of all this stuff I'd suspect it's fairly likely he signs by Christmas and it would be a major shock if he makes it through next weekend unsigned.

[Jason Ross]

8 minutes ago, Bertz said:

My understanding is that in Japan Christmas and Christmas Eve are fairly big, while New Years is huge.  So between that and the logistics of all this stuff I'd suspect it's fairly likely he signs by Christmas and it would be a major shock if he makes it through next weekend unsigned.

Just guessing, I kind of think this weekend is the time. We're getting the "finalists" talk and the smoke, then it died back down today. Feels like it's final pitch time and then decision day shortly after. 

[Derwood]

Generally, nothing really happens between Christmas and New Year's, so this weekend seems key

[ILMindState]

His agent is Scott Boras. He'll sign at the deadline on January 2

[Jason Ross]

3 minutes ago, ILMindState said:

His agent is Scott Boras. He'll sign at the deadline on January 2

It may be true, but Boras has been burned a bunch recently from waiting these things out. Considering recent reports are that he's at a finalist stage, dragging this into the holiday season feels pretty unlikely at this point.

Dylan Cease is represented by Scott Boras too. He was the first major domino to fall.