Every offseason is something of an interesting story, everyone looks forward to the likes of change, seeing your rivals move across the country or the star pitcher you’ve been dying to have been linked to a long-term deal with your favorite team. It’s as if Christmas has come early for those who sporadically check Twitter every few minutes desperate for a move to be made hungry for something new. Each free agent class is topped with star-studded talent, this year is no different than the rest arguably the best highlighted by the two-way superstar; Shohei Ohtani who is about to win his second MVP tomorrow night. Ohtani, the first Japanese player to win both ROY and MVP in the first 5 years of their career since Ichiro took home both his first year in 2001 is about to hit the open market and achieve a historical contract like no other. Ohtani was posted by the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2018 and after an extreme bidding war, the Angels won his rights and had him the past 6 years.

It shows the beauty of the foreign market, so many players who played their whole life in their country get the opportunity to show their talents in the biggest market in the world. Every year the foreign leagues post their players after their season is over and at that time MLB teams have 30 days to negotiate a contract with the player as well as the foreign club that is posting their player. If no player is signed to an MLB team then the rights go back to their NPB team. Overall dealing with foreign players is typically 25% more expensive than signing players already in the confounds of the United States. On top of the 150+ million contract these players receive the team also has to pay 50+ to their respective club to receive the rights of the player. But if you can shake the right deal up your team has struck gold. Japanese pitchers are hard to come by when they make their way across seas. Stars like Yu Darvish, Masahiro Tanaka, or Ichiro Suzuki. They’ve shown themselves in Japan and exploded when they came over to the States.

Shohei is one of the best to come over the seas, but sadly he won’t be used as a two-way player for 2024 after going through Tommy John surgery nonetheless he will still receive the largest contract ever given out to a player toppling Mike Trouts expected $425 million. Besides Ohtani the pitching is one of the best it has in recent years, 2*Cy Young pitcher Blake Snell, RHP Aaron Nola, and RHP Sonny Gray lead the way. With the impressive season, it’s no surprise teams would drool at the mouth at signing any of these starters to long-term deals. 

Yet all these players are reaching their 30s and they may hold a risk for teams signing them to long-term deals. Nonetheless, players can be successful and turn their careers around throughout their 30s but there’s still a chance Father Time will take over and slow down these ace-caliber pitchers. That is why so many teams are intrigued to take the path of foreign goods, they get posted in MLB free agency much younger and seem to have better peripheral statistics at performing in high-leverage MLB situations. Last year RHP Kodai Senga and LHB Masataka Yoshida took the league by storm, both finished top 7 ROY in their respective leagues. Kodai Senga was one of the best pitchers in the NL last year and became the undeniable Mets Ace after Scherzer and Verlander were dealt at the trade deadline. He finished with a sub 3.00 era and over 200 strikeouts becoming just the 5th rookie to achieve that feature in the modern era. Yoshida was a formidable left-handed power bat for the Red Sox, he didn’t put up the same numbers he had in Japan but he still proved worthy for the 7-year contract he received this past winter.

Senga was one of the best Japanese pitchers to come to the States since Tanaka made his way to NY in 2013. Senga compiled a resume of 5* Japan Series champions (Japan World Series), Japanese Triple Crown (2020), 2* Strikeout leaders (2019,2020), an ERA title, 2* Pacific League Award (Cy Young equivalent), Golden gloves and a no-hitter in 2019. Senga was the ultimate package and immediately was rewarded with a 5-year 75 million 75-million-dollar contract from the Mets. It was an easy change for Senga, he struggled at first but had a solid start to his MLB debut, highlighted by a start nod and second in ROY. 

Japanese stars don’t come often but when they do act fast and sign them to your team, as we can see moments like these don’t come often and star RHP Yoshinubo Yamamoto who was posted last week will gain a lot of popularity across all 30 teams. 

Yamamoto is receiving the same hype as Ichiro did when he came in 2001. Yamamoto is arguably the greatest Japanese pitcher to come across to the USA since Tanaka went 24-0 in 2013 with a 1.27 era in 200+ innings. 

Yamamoto is already an established star. After finishing his career in the KBO he came over with the same resume similar to the accolades of Justin Verlander but 15 years quicker. Yamamoto just collected his 3rd straight Sawamura Award (the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young Award), no one has achieved this feature he is left alone in the history of Japan. He has already thrown 2 no-hitters this year as well as collected a third straight MVP Award in the 3 years. 

He is doing things at an unprecedented rate that none of us realized. He will take over Tanaka’s record-breaking contract for a Japanese pitcher when he got over $150 in 2013 from the Yankees. Yamamoto is expected to receive over $240 million. With everyone having their eyes on the top prize it’s hard to see where he will land. But time will tell to see where Yamamoto wants to make his decision, time is ticking and everyone is dying to see him represent their team.