{"id":119138,"date":"2025-11-10T14:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=119138"},"modified":"2025-11-10T14:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:15:13","slug":"yankees-favorites-to-score-new-free-agent-ace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=119138","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Favorites To Score New Free Agent Ace"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2201950792-e1762778070229.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2201950792-e1762778070229.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2201950792-e1762778070229.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2201950792-e1762778070229.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Yankees Favorites To Score New Free Agent Ace\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>Could the Yankees add a free agent ace to their starting rotation?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The New York Yankees have some work to do to become World Series favorites. The Los Angeles Dodgers proved that starting pitching can go a long way. Additionally, they proved that a timely offense is better than a barrage of bats.<\/p>\n<p>Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are two significant pieces of the Dodgers\u2019 rotation. The Yankees could take a page out of the Dodgers\u2019 playbook by landing one of the top free agent pitchers, Tatsuya Imai.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>New York Yankees Are Favorites to Add Tatsuya Imai<\/h2>\n<p>Unsurprisingly, after the Imai news broke, one insider linked him to the Yankees. Baseball journalist Francys Romero was one of the first to reveal the official news of his posting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Seibu Lions have approved the posting of 27-year-old ace Tatsuya Imai,\u201d Romero wrote on social media late on November 9th. \u201cIf the request is approved, he will have 45 days to negotiate with all 30 MLB teams. The Yankees are expected to be among the favorites to land Imai, according to sources.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This process does not guarantee an MLB contract. However, it does put a deadline on when the player can sign before they lose the opportunity to do so for this season.<\/p>\n<p>Jon Heyman reports that Imai is one of several Japanese players he predicts could sign with an MLB team, a prediction that came true on Sunday night.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNoted Yakult Swallows slugger Munetaka Murakami isn\u2019t the only Japanese star moving to MLB this winter,\u201d Heyman wrote in the New York Post article from September 4, 2025. \u201cYomiuri Giants star Kazuma Okamoto, another big-hitting third baseman\/first baseman who\u2019s comped to Seiya Suzuki, and Seibu Lions pitching star Tatsuya Imai, who has a 1.50 ERA and throws 98 mph with a plus slider, are being posted, too, sources say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Heyman believes that Imai is now one of the top pitchers available through free agency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe righty who throws up to 99 mph,\u201d Heyman wrote on social media. \u201cShould be one of the top 3 free agent pitchers, along with Dylan Cease and Framber Valdez.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>What Tatsuya Imai Could Bring to the Yankees<\/h2>\n<p>Imai is a 27-year-old starting pitcher who is an eight-year veteran of the Nippon Professional Baseball league (NPB).<\/p>\n<p>The starting ace has put together an impressive stat line. He has a record of 58-45, a 3.15 ERA, 14 complete games, seven shutouts, 907 strikeouts, and a 1.267 WHIP.<\/p>\n<p>MLBTradeRumors claims that there is significant upside for a team to sign Imai. They are predicting a pretty substantial deal could be in store for the 27-year-old ace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBetween his age and an intriguing four-pitch arsenal (headlined by a fastball in the 95-99mph range and a plus slider),\u201d Mark Polishuk wrote on November 9, 2025. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot to like in terms of how Imai\u2019s success in NPB might translate against Major League hitters. We\u2019re predicting a six-year, $150MM deal. Some evaluators feel Imai projects as a back-end starter or even as a reliever in the majors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Max Fried, Garrit Cole, Luis Gil, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt are the starting rotation pitchers. Seeing where Imai lands will be an interesting storyline to follow over the next 45 days.<\/p>\n<p>Caleb Kerney Caleb covers the NHL for Heavy.com. He has covered professional hockey since 2022, including bylines at Dobber Prospects, The Hockey Writers, and The Hockey News. More about Caleb Kerney<\/p>\n<h2>More Heavy on Yankees<\/h2>\n<p>Loading more stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New York Yankees are considered favorites to land the newly made available free agent to add to their rotation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":119145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Yankees Favorites To Score New Free Agent Ace - NEWS USA<\/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:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=119138\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yankees Favorites To Score New Free Agent Ace - 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