The Los Angeles Dodgers have had a great time convincing talent out of Japan to join the franchise. Two years ago, they landed Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Last offseason, they convinced Roki Sasaki to sign with the team.
This offseason, there are a couple of other big Japanese stars planning to join MLB. Perhaps the most sought-after name is pitcher Tatsuya Imai. He’s a three-time NPB All-Star and is likely going to see a massive payday.
However, the Dodgers aren’t likely to get him. ESPN’s David Schoenfield projected that Imai is going to get a six-year, $135 million contract. He also predicted that the Dodgers won’t have a chance to sign him this offseason.
“After initially declaring he wants to take the Dodgers down, Imai has doubled down on his desire to beat the Dodgers — not join them,” Schoenfield wrote. “‘With the number of pitchers they already have, they don’t need me,’ he told a Japanese news outlet. Meanwhile, Tyler Glasnow told MLB Network Radio on Sunday that he spoke with Andrew Friedman, and the Dodgers’ exec told him, ‘You’re not going anywhere.” Seems like the Dodgers will stick with their rotation.’”
This isn’t too much of a surprise, as Imai doesn’t want to join the Dodgers, but sometimes money speaks. In the end, it looks like he’ll be playing elsewhere.
Latest on Kyle Tucker
The Dodgers likely haven’t been thinking too much about Imai since he’s made his lack of interest clear. However, one player they’ve been doing a lot of work on is Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyler Tucker.
Schoenfield offered up an update on the Dodgers’ pursuit of Tucker.
“The Dodgers could shift Teoscar Hernandez to left field and sign Tucker to play right field, especially with the payroll about $43 million below where it was in 2025,” Schoenfield wrote. “But do the Dodgers believe that much in Tucker to give him a megadeal? At some point, they do need to weave some younger position players into the lineup — and their top prospects are all outfielders: Josue De Paula, Eduardo Quintero, Mike Sirota and Zyhir Hope. Tucker on a shorter deal with a higher AAV might work if a longer one isn’t out there for him.”
Dodgers Can Still Add Another Star Pitcher
Though the Dodgers already have a loaded rotation of starting pitchers, that won’t stop them from upgrading the position if they can. The team has been heavily linked to Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.
The back-to-back Cy Young Award-winner is on an expiring contract, and he’d get the Tigers a haul in a trade. The Dodgers adding Skubal to their starter rotation makes them very difficult to score on in a playoff series.
For the Tigers, they might not be too keen on trading him yet. He’s their best player, and they were a playoff team that won a series last season. Skubal is a big reason why they’ve had success the last two seasons. If the Dodgers want him, they’re going to have to pay, but it could be worth it to have arguably the greatest collection of starting pitchers on a single team ever.
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