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3:55pm: Chris Cotillo of MassLive experiences that the Sox are thought of a “lengthy shot” to get Imanaga.
3:45pm: Star NPB left-hander Shota Imanaga will see his 45-day posting window come to an in depth on Thursday, which means it’s solely a matter of days earlier than the 30-year-old will resolve on his first huge league group. Bidding for Imanaga has reportedly been sturdy, as he’s drawn curiosity from a variety of groups so far in his first foray into MLB’s open market. Because the bidding interval winds down, Imanaga’s market has unsurprisingly begun to take firmer form.
Sankei Sports in Japan reports that the Angels and Giants are presently the main candidates to signal Imanaga, though no choice has been made simply but. Equally, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand suggests that the Giants are rising because the favorites to signal the southpaw, although Feinsand provides that every of the Angels, Cubs and Purple Sox stay within the fold to some extent. Whereas there’s nonetheless plenty of methods which the left-hander’s last choice may go, it’s no less than notable that Feinsand characterizes a last 4 of types, whereas the experiences out of Japan have the sphere narrowed additional but.
The Giants and Angels are each sturdy matches for Imanaga, who’s anticipated to prime countryman Kodai Senga’s five-year, $75MM contract with the Mets. San Francisco acquired former AL Cy Younger winner Robbie Ray on Friday in a shocking commerce with the Mariners, however Ray isn’t anticipated to pitch till midseason as he recovers from Tommy John surgical procedure. Equally, right-hander Alex Cobb will open the yr on the injured checklist whereas recovering from October hip surgical procedure.
That leaves the Giants with ace Logan Webb as probably the most (arguably solely) solidified member of the rotation. Veteran Ross Stripling, prime prospect Kyle Harrison and 2023 rookies Keaton Winn and Tristan Beck are among the many candidates to spherical out the employees, however there’s a great deal of uncertainty past that group. It’s true that Imanaga himself comes along with his personal uncertainty — he’s untested towards huge league hitters — however MLB scouts are intrigued sufficient by him that some consider his contract may strategy 9 figures. Clearly, there’s a prevailing perception all through MLB that Imanaga is a reputable mid-rotation arm, at least.
Just a few hundred miles to the south, the Angels are going through some rotation questions of their very own. Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning and Patrick Sandoval are all locked into spots, though Detmers and Sandoval each had down 2023 showings relative to their 2022 efficiency. That’s much more true of veteran Tyler Anderson, who had an All-Star ’22 displaying with the Dodgers earlier than posting a 5.43 ERA in yr one among a three-year, $39MM free agent cope with the Halos. The Angels just lately took a low-cost flier on Zach Plesac and have reportedly been prioritizing Blake Snell within the wake of Shohei Ohtani’s departure, however Imanaga presents a mid-rotation choice for them as nicely.
The Purple Sox, in the meantime, will roll out a new-look rotation with or with out Imanaga. Gone is oft-injured ace Chris Sale, who was shipped to the Braves (with money) in trade for second baseman Vaughn Grissom. He was rapidly changed by newly signed Lucas Giolito, who’s presently in line to be joined by some mixture of Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock and Kutter Crawford.
As for the Cubs, they’ve been MLB’s least-active group this winter — no less than relating to truly pushing offers throughout the end line. Chicago has been related to a litany of free brokers and a handful of commerce targets, however so far the Cubs haven’t added a single participant to their roster except for catcher Brian Serven, whom they claimed off waivers from the Rockies final week. Chicago’s rotation presently consists of Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks and Jameson Taillon, with veteran Drew Smyly and younger arms like Hayden Wesneski, Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown and Javier Assad all within the combine for begins as nicely. It’s a comparatively stable group, however the Cubs determine to make some type of transfer to interchange the outgoing Marcus Stroman.
Courting again to 2019, Imanaga boasts a 26.2% strikeout fee and 5.9% stroll fee along with a cumulative 2.79 earned run common — together with a no-hitter within the 2022 season. He’s not overpowering when it comes to velocity, although MLBTR contributor Dai Takegami Podziewski noted back in September that he’d added some life to his heater and was averaging between 92-93 mph throughout the 2023 marketing campaign. Along with the assured cash owed to the pitcher himself, Imanaga’s new group might want to pay a launch payment to his former group, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, which might be equal to twenty% of the contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5% of the subsequent $25MM and 15% of any {dollars} thereafter.
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