I’ve been looking for the right time to write about Japanese righty Tatsuya Imai ever since seeing Lance Brozdowski’s breakdown of his “wrong way” slider (5:35 mark, clip below), and now I’ve got it. I am a little late to the party when it comes to this topic, but I finally got around to checking Jim Bowden’s top 50 free agent predictions for The Athletic. There at No. 9 is the 27-year-old Imai, who Bowden believes could land a seven-year, $154 million contract.
That’s right in line with what Jeff Passan was hearing back in early September, with one front office official saying Imai could get more than $200 million.