One of the biggest features of this year's free-agent market is the strong presence of exciting talents coming over from Japan. The New York Mets' needs align nicely with what the best of the NPB has to offer. Munetaka Murakami or Kazuma Okamoto could be exciting Pete Alonso alternatives, but it's starter Tatsuya Imai who could be the biggest prize of them all.
The club needs rotation help in a bad way. That's led insiders like the Athletic's Jim Bowden to consider the Mets as one of the best potential fits for Imai, though that also comes with a hefty, seven-year, $154 million contract prediction.