On Thursday, we finally got some closure on Tatsuya Imai’s free agency when the star Japanese pitcher signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the Houston Astros. The deal has an opt-out after every season according to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome and Cody Stavenhagen.
While Iami signing with the Astros won’t impact the Guardians as much as if he’d signed with the White Sox, his signing is just another example of a stud joining the American League after spending the 2025 season elsewhere.
The Guardians could run into Tatsuya Imai and the Astros in the postseason
Although Iami is a marquee talent who will make $18 million next season (the third-highest AAV given to a Japanese-born pitcher), his contract is still a bit lower than the 100+ million figure that he was projected to get.