Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai was posted by the Seibu Lions earlier this month, opening the door for the starter to transition from Nippon Professional Baseball to MLB. Since then, questions have arisen on which roster the star pitcher could end up on.
Some have pitched the Los Angeles Dodgers — a team already filled with Japanese stars like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki — as a potential landing spot. But it looks like Imai is not as on board with the idea.
In an interview on Japanese news program “Hodo Station,” Imai said that he would rather beat the star-studded Dodgers roster than play with them.
“Of course, I’d enjoy playing alongside Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki,” Imai said, via MLB.com, “but winning against a team like that and becoming a World Champion would be the most valuable thing in my life. If anything, I’d rather take them down.”
If he were to join the majors, Imai would be the latest Japanese pitcher to transition to the U.S. In addition to Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki in the Dodgers’ rotation, Chicago Cubs starter Shota Imanaga and New York Mets ace Kodai Senga have become some of the top pitchers in the league after being posted over the past few years.
But Imai said that he doesn’t necessarily want to play with another Japanese player, so that he can fully embrace the experience of being on a diverse team.
“If there were another Japanese player on the same team, I could just ask them about anything, right?” Imai said. “But that’s actually not what I’m looking for. In a way, I want to experience that sense of survival. When I come face-to-face with cultural differences, I want to see how I can overcome them on my own — that’s part of what I’m excited about.”
MLB has embraced the influx of Japanese talent in recent years. The 2025 season started with a matchup between the Dodgers and the Cubs in Tokyo, with Ohtani, Yamamoto and Imanaga among the players featured in the international event.
That embrace will likely extend to Imai, who is one of the best pitchers in NPB. Imai, who sits at No. 14 in Yahoo Sports’ free agency rankings, would be a great catch for any team looking to boost its rotation: Last season, the 27-year-old starter threw a 1.92 ERA with 178 strikeouts over 163 2/3 innings.
Imai was posted Nov. 10, which started the 45-day clock for MLB teams to negotiate with the starter on a contract. (As of Monday, that window is about one-third of the way through.) If he agrees to a deal, whatever team lands him will pay a posting fee for the Lions, which will vary based on the contract. If Imai does not agree to a deal, he will return to NPB for next season.
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