For once, the Dodgers can sit out a big-name bidding war without sacrificing a thing.
The Athletic linking the Los Angeles Dodgers to Tatsuya Imai barely even registers as surprising at this point, it’s practically a reflex. A high-end NPB arm gets posted, the Dodgers are floated, everyone nods along. That’s the cycle. But drop that familiar rumor into the 2025-26 context and it feels more like lazy connective tissue than legitimate need.
This is a club that didn’t just dip into the Japanese talent pool; they drained half of it.