{"id":111740,"date":"2025-11-25T16:17:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/japanese-ace-tatsuya-imai-snubs-dodgers-as-high-stakes-mlb-free-agency-window-opens-111740"},"modified":"2025-11-25T16:17:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:17:59","slug":"japanese-ace-tatsuya-imai-snubs-dodgers-as-high-stakes-mlb-free-agency-window-opens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/japanese-ace-tatsuya-imai-snubs-dodgers-as-high-stakes-mlb-free-agency-window-opens-111740","title":{"rendered":"Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai snubs Dodgers as high-stakes MLB free agency window opens"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Los Angeles Dodgers’<\/a> big bets on Japanese pitchers paid off earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Yoshinobu Yamamoto won World Series MVP honors, Roki Sasaki recorded critical outs and Shohei Ohtani<\/a> started in Game 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tatsuya Imai is the latest Japanese ace and free agent who has his sights set on Major League Baseball. But the right-hander hopes his path to the majors does not pass through Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Imai is in the midst of a 45-day posting window, which affords him the opportunity to agree to a contract with any major league team of his choosing.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“I rather take them down,” Imai told Japan\u2019s TV Asahi program “Hodo Station,” per MLB.com<\/a>, with a hint of laughter.<\/p>\n

2026 MLB FREE AGENT SIGNINGS, TRADES: RED SOX LAND RHP SONNY GRAY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“Of course, I\u2019d enjoy playing alongside [Shohei] Ohtani, [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto and [Roki] Sasaki,” Imai added, “but winning against a team like that and becoming a world champion would be the most valuable thing in my life.”<\/p>\n

Imai most recently pitched for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Seibu Lions. The 27-year-old became available to MLB<\/a> teams on Nov. 19. He experienced some ups and downs in his first few NPB seasons but eventually settled in and became one of the league’s more reliable starting pitchers.<\/p>\n

Last season, Imai pitched in a combined no-hitter and was named to his third career All-Star team. He has a 3.15 career ERA over 159 games with the Lions.<\/p>\n

Imai also noted that he hopes to sign with a team whose roster does not feature any Japanese players.<\/p>\n

“They\u2019d just tell you anything if you asked, right?” Imai said in reference to the idea of teaming up with a fellow Japanese player in the U.S. “I don\u2019t really want that; in a way, I want to experience that survival vibe, and facing cultural differences and figuring them out on my own is part of the fun.”<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have effectively cornered the market on the most premier international players in recent years, but Imai’s latest comments throw cold water on the idea of Los Angeles adding a fourth Japanese native pitcher to its rotation in 2026.<\/p>\n

Follow Fox News Digital\u2019s <\/strong><\/i>sports coverage on X<\/strong><\/i><\/a>, and subscribe to <\/strong><\/i>the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter<\/strong><\/i><\/a>.<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/japanese-ace-tatsuya-imai-snubs-dodgers-high-stakes-mlb-free-agency-window-opens <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ big bets on Japanese pitchers paid off earlier this month. Yoshinobu Yamamoto won World Series MVP honors, Roki Sasaki recorded critical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-111740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJapanese ace Tatsuya Imai snubs Dodgers as high-stakes MLB free agency window opens - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/japanese-ace-tatsuya-imai-snubs-dodgers-as-high-stakes-mlb-free-agency-window-opens-111740\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai snubs Dodgers as high-stakes MLB free agency window opens - Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Los Angeles Dodgers’ big bets on Japanese pitchers paid off earlier this month. 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