7+ hour, 2+ min ago (436+ words) Tatsuya Imai isn't looking to join a superteam as he eyes a move to the MLB. He wants to challenge one. Fresh off a Sawamura Award season, the star right-hander says defeating a stacked club like the Dodgers would mean more than joining them. Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai has spent the last few seasons establishing himself as one of Nippon Professional Baseball's most reliable front-line pitchers. Now, as he explores a potential jump to Major League Baseball, he's making one thing clear: he isn't interested in simply joining a ready-made powerhouse; he wants to beat one. During a recent appearance on "Hodo Station," hosted by former MLB pitcher and two-time World Baseball Classic champion Daisuke Matsuzaka, Imai was asked about the possibility of playing alongside Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki in Los Angeles. Many players from NPB have…...

7+ hour, 2+ min ago (384+ words) Tatsuya Imai isn't looking to join a superteam as he eyes a move to the MLB. He wants to challenge one. Fresh off a Sawamura Award season, the star right-hander says defeating a stacked club like the Dodgers would mean more than joining them. Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai has spent the last few seasons establishing himself as one of Nippon Professional Baseball's most reliable front-line pitchers. Now, as he explores a potential jump to Major League Baseball, he's making one thing clear: he isn't interested in simply joining a ready-made powerhouse; he wants to beat one. During a recent appearance on "Hodo Station," hosted by former MLB pitcher and two-time World Baseball Classic champion Daisuke Matsuzaka, Imai was asked about the possibility of playing alongside Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki in Los Angeles. Many players from NPB have…...

7+ hour, 49+ min ago (837+ words) For the vast majority of baseball fans, they are the four free agents nobody knows. Yet they could tip the balance of power in the 2026 title chases. All four played in Japan's major leagues last year but now, after posting by their teams, hope to follow Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Yu Darvish to teams in the United States. The names to know are pitchers Tatsuya Imai and Kona Takahashi plus position players Munetaka Murakami and Kaz Okamoto. Now on the free-agent market, they are widely considered among the best potential signees in a sea of accomplished veterans " even though nobody knows how they will handle the transition to American baseball. None has the potential of Ohtani, a pitcher/DH who won four MVP awards " all by unanimous vote " with the last three coming in consecutive seasons. Nor does any…...

8+ hour, 13+ min ago (812+ words) Ryan Helsley said he was tipping his pitches last season, and the numbers bear that out. But stats also show his stuff remains dominant when he's less predictable. Joe Sargent / Getty Images If there is a reason for optimism after Ryan Helsley's disastrous two-month tenure with the New York Mets, it's that the two-time All-Star closer knows what went wrong and is confident he has fixed the issue. Based on the early action in his market, the industry feels the same. Despite Helsley's late-season struggles last year " a period he referred to as the worst of his career " roughly 15 teams have expressed interest in the 31-year-old right-hander, league sources said. That includes the Detroit Tigers, who view Helsley as a potential starting pitcher. Several teams have discussed multiyear deals, either in a set-up role or as a traditional closer. "There…...

8+ hour, 26+ min ago (273+ words) Japanese free-agent pitcher Tatsuya Imai would rather be a part of a team that beats the Los Angeles Dodgers than join countrymen Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki as a member of the reigning World Series champions. "Of course, I'd enjoy playing alongside Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki," Imai told Daisuke Matsuzaka on "Hodo Station," according to MLB.com's Michael Clair, "but winning against a team like that and becoming a world champion would be the most valuable thing in my life. If anything, I'd rather take them down." Imai mentioned wanting to experience the majors differently than some of his Japanese peers as a reason not to join the Dodgers. "If there were another Japanese player on the same team, I could just ask them about anything, right?" Imai said. "But that's actually not what I'm looking for. In…...

8+ hour, 29+ min ago (702+ words) Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns. Credit: Jim McIsaac David Stearns opened Monday's Zoom call with a few minutes of effusive praise for Brandon Nimmo, previously known as the longest-tenured, widely admired and immensely popular leftfielder for the New York Mets. It was basically Nimmo's Flushing eulogy, a goodbye to the 2011 first-round draft pick, who famously said, upon signing his eight-year, $162 million deal, that he'd never have to take off his blue-and-orange jersey ever again. The choice was his, after all. That's the point of having no-trade protection built into a contract, and as someone who was around for most of Nimmo's days, I can confidently say he rarely,if ever,showed up for work at Citi Field without a smile. Not an easy feat when you're playing for the super-scrutinized Mets. Plenty of people have passed through that…...

8+ hour, 52+ min ago (443+ words) ARLINGTON -- Brandon Nimmo knows he could have been a lifelong Met. He knows there could have been a chance -- if he kept producing at a high level -- that his number was in the rafters at Citi Field alongside David Wright's. Nimmo owns a house in Port St. Lucie, Fla., where the Mets have their Spring Training home. He's never even known another organization. So when David Stearns asked if Nimmo would waive his no-trade clause to finalize a deal that would send him to Texas, he knew he had some thinking to do. Stearns took the possibility of a trade to Nimmo on Thursday. At the time, his no-trade clause was the only thing standing in the way of its completion. By Sunday night, he was a Texas Ranger. Before waiving his no-trade clause, Nimmo reached out to Rangers ace…...

9+ hour, 1+ min ago (471+ words) When the news broke that Seibu Lions ace Tatsuya Imai was posted, many Major League fans had one question: Would he also want to join the Dodgers? After all, not only is Los Angeles arguably the closest flight back to Japan, but he'd be able to join fellow countrymen Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, and Roki Sasaki to help L.A. push for a third consecutive World Series championship next year. Have no fear, fans of baseball's 29 other teams: Imai has no interest in forming a Miami Heat-esque superteam in Los Angeles. If anything, he wants to show off his skills and take those three down. Speaking with Daisuke Matsuzaka on the show, "Hodo Station," Imai revealed a bit of a competitive edge. "Of course, I'd enjoy playing alongside Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki," Imai told the former Major League pitcher and two-time World…...

9+ hour, 10+ min ago (310+ words) To some, Major League Baseball has a spending balance problem, and recently, one of baseball's top spenders shared his thoughts on the matter. Notably, the Los Angeles Dodgers have created a recent rift in baseball due to their aggressive offseason spending. To make matters worse, they've won back-to-back World Series titles in the midst of this, only furthering the divide between aggressive owners, and owners unwilling to shell out the big bucks. Owner of the New York Yankees Hal Steinbrenner recently spoke with Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News about his concerns that the Dodgers may be distancing themselves further, and further away from everyone else. The two teams met in the 2024 World Series, where the Dodgers won in five games. "Of course it's a concern," Steinbrenner said. "They do have tremendous resources, and they've gotten the job…...

9+ hour, 18+ min ago (884+ words) In a transaction that became official Monday, the Mets, Rangers and Brandon Nimmo all made trades. Nimmo, who owned a no-trade clause, was willing to trade what might have become Mets immortality for what he feels is a real chance at a World Series with a team that wants him and is three seasons removed from lifting the trophy. Sure, he said, he liked his odds of winning in Queens, but David Stearns had made it clear to him that Stearns felt the Mets" best chances at a title involved this Nimmo-for-Marcus Semien swap being completed. If Nimmo vetoed the trade, he essentially would be hurting the Mets" own title odds. If he accepted, he would be helping both sides. Nimmo had played 1,066 games with the Mets, ranking 11th in franchise history with another five seasons left on his contract. His…...