Mets Are Great Fit For Next Best Japanese Pitcher In Free Agency

The New York Mets are focused on adding pitching in the offseason, with ownership fixating on run prevention.

Run prevention means two things, improving the pitching staff as well as getting better defensively. The Mets have already made a blockbuster trade that improves their infield defense tremendously while removing a minus-defender in left field. New York acquired second baseman Marcus Semien from the Texas Rangers in exchange for left fielder Brandon Nimmo on Sunday.

Semien is a huge upgrade offensively and defensively over current second baseman Jeff McNeil. He is coming off a down year with the bat, batting just .230 with a .669 OPS while hitting 15 home runs and driving in 62 runs, but he hit 23 or more home runs in five of his last seven seasons.

Semien should provide a power boost to the middle of the lineup and save some runs with his glove.

That’s a great step to improving the defense, but the Mets need to address their pitching staff in the winter. There are plenty of solid free agents available, but if New York doesn’t want to waste a draft pick or trade for an elite pitcher, they can sign the next best Japanese pitcher after he was posted last week.

Tatsuya Imai projects to be the top international pitcher available and he would slot into the Mets’ starting rotation nicely.

Imai has a great fastball with unique off-speed offerings, and his control has improved each of the past few seasons. He would have to adjust where he throws his fastball, though, as he lives in the middle of the zone. That’s an easy fix for any team willing to sign him and there should be a lot of interested suitors.

“Since he doesn't come with a qualifying offer and is among the youngest free agents in the class, Imai is attractive to most of MLB, so his contract is expected to go well into nine figures,” ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel wrote Tuesday. “I projected an all-in cost (including posting fee to his NPB club) of $157 million over six years. If anything, that could be a bit low.

“It's hard to narrow down which teams will be interested in Imai, especially as typical lower-spending teams, such as the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins, are expected to spend more in free agency than in past years. That said, among teams set to spend at the higher end of the market that need starting pitchers (and maybe don't want to give up a draft pick to get one), you have the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees, who are perennially in on the top players coming from NPB.”

McDaniel projects the Mets to be in on Imai, and given what the focus of the offseason is, he seems like a great fit.