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By Patrick McAvoy
Contributing Sports Writer
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The New York Mets need another starting pitcher to put towards the top of the rotation and it sounds like the organization is planning to pursue one of the most intriguing arms that will be available.
Tatsuya Imai, most recently of the Seibu Lions, is expected to be posted for big league clubs this offseason. Imai is just 27 years old and has been pitching professionally since 2017. He has a career 3.07 ERA in 187 total appearances. In 2025, he had a 1.92 ERA in 24 outings. He hasn't finished a season with an ERA above 2.34 since 2021.
Now, he's expected to come over to the majors and SNY's Andy Martino reported that the Mets are going to be one of the teams in on him.
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"The Mets will be in on free agent pitcher Tatsuya Imai, whose NPB team, the Seibu Lions, will post this offseason. But I don’t expect the team to mount a Yoshinobu Yamamoto-style, full-tilt pursuit," Martino wrote. "Why? Evaluators like Imai but suggest that he is no sure thing to succeed as an MLB starter. His mid-to-high 90s fastball might or might not play here; industry opinion on that is mixed.
"Imai is an interesting option and should prompt conversations with any club in search of pitching, the Mets included. But the early word at the GM Meetings is that he will not captivate the industry on quite the same level that Yamamoto did two winters ago, when he spurned the Mets and Yankees to sign a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers."
The Mets need pitching and Imai is someone who can help and also likely has a lower price tag than someone like Framber Valdez or Dylan Cease.
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