Tatsuya Imai agrees to three-year deal with Astros
by David Leisering | Astros Correspondent | Thu, Jan 1st 1:22pm EST
Tatsuya Imai, the highly-coveted free agent righthander from Japan, has agreed to a three-year deal with the Houston Astros as reported by Jon Heyman. The deal, which contains opt-outs every year, is worth $54 million guaranteed and, with inning incentives, could be worth as much as $63 million. (Jon Heyman on X)
Fantasy Impact:
News surrounding Imai, the prized Japanese-born pitcher, was quiet until the last few days and it was the Astros who swooped in and signed the righthander. Imai, 27, went 10-5 with a career-best 1.92 ERA in 163.2 innings with the Saitama Seibu Lions of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, capping off a four-year run of dominance with the Lions. Over the last four seasons, Imai went 35-19 with a 2.13 ERA and 556 strikeouts in 549.1 innings of work. His 27.8% strikeout rate in 2025 was the best in NPB. Imai projects to be either the #2 or #3 starter in Houston, slotting in behind Hunter Brown and, possibly, Cristian Javier.
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