The San Francisco Giants are expected to be heavily involved in the sweepstakes to sign Tatsuya Imai in the coming weeks. The pitcher will be free to negotiate with MLB teams starting on November 19. This comes after he was recently posted by the Saitama Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. Imai has until January 2 to come to terms with a new team.
The Giants are one of several MLB clubs to be linked with the 27-year-old pitcher. After all, Imai previously posted a 1.92 ERA to go along with 178 strikeouts in just over 163 innings in 2025. However, multiple outlets have San Francisco as the potential frontrunner.
Jon Morosi claimed on November 5 that the Giants are “among the possible suitors” for the star. Bleacher Report has then since predicted that San Francisco would land Imai. The outlet picked the Giants as Imai’s potential destination over top teams such as the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees.
San Francisco Giants Have Big Hole to Fill in Starting Rotation
GettyThe San Francisco Giants have to replace free agent pitcher Justin Verlander.
Imai previously refused to tip his hand regarding his future during interviews with Japanese media. “Feeling that I want to play for a specific team is most important,” Imai replied after being asked about specific MLB teams. “That is my greatest motivation. I will negotiate with clubs that need me. It doesn’t matter if they are in the East or West.”
The Giants undoubtedly need Imai. Outside of Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, San Francisco’s starting rotation is up in the air looking ahead. Justin Verlander has become a free agent and is unlikely to return to the Bay Area after a decent 2025. Adding Imai to the roster would give the Giants a solid front three to compete in the National League West.
While San Francisco will face steep competition in the chase for Imai, Giants execs have seemingly done their homework. The Athletic revealed in October that Buster Posey, the team’s president of baseball operations, traveled to Japan in the summer of 2025 to scout players. The excursion clearly shows that Posey wants to be active in the Japanese market.
Giants Seemingly Have Upper Hand in Chase for Tatsuya Imai
The Giants have made strong attempts to bring in a Japanese star in recent years. They previously tried to sign Shohei Ohtani in 2018 and 2023 to no avail. The superstar ultimately picked the Los Angeles Angels and the Dodgers, respectively. San Francisco then also finished finalist in the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes. The pitcher recently collected the 2025 World Series MVP with the Dodgers.
Although the Giants have been upstaged by their rivals in the pursuit of Japanese free agents recently, the Dodgers are not expected to chase Imai. As a result, San Francisco will likely be the most prominent West Coast team to be involved in the upcoming negotiations.
The star pitcher may claim that geography does not matter when choosing his next team. Nevertheless, potentially picking a team on the West Coast would significantly reduce his travel time back and forth to Japan. San Francisco also has one of the highest Asian populations in the United States. Giants execs will surely be prepared to make a significant pitch to Imai in contract negotiations.
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