A Look at Three Japanese Free Agents

“If not the Dodgers, then who?”

That’s the first question every organization will ask this year. Until proven otherwise, the Dodgers will be the favorites to land any Japanese player they decide to glance at.

However, a 7-word blog post that says “They are all going to the Dodgers” doesn’t capture an audience.

We have no idea what level of interest, if any, the Yankees have in this year’s class. There is a little smoke with one of the three, but the hype we saw with Yoshinobu Yamamoto isn’t there. That said, there isn’t much hype with these players going anywhere yet.

Let’s take a look at how the three could fit in with the Yankees. Keep in mind that I don’t fancy myself an expert on Japanese baseball.

1B/3B/OF Kazuma Okamoto

Okamoto, who turns 30 next June, is the least heralded of the three.  He may intrigue the Yankees because he hits right-handed, which would help balance the lineup against left-handed pitchers. However, it is doubtful he is coming to America to take over the Amed Rosario role. Plus, his projected contract from The Athletic (4/$78.5M) would make him overpaid for such a role.

Due to an injury, Okamoto (who earned three home run titles) played in only 69 games for Yomiuri (JPCL), hitting .327/.416/.598 with 15 home runs and an equal amount of strikeouts and walks (11.26% rate). Most of his experience has come at third and first base, though he has mixed in some time in the outfield. While it appears first base will be his primary MLB role, his ability to cover a few other positions will increase his value.

While I can see why Yankees fans are intrigued, I don’t see this move happening. Will the Yankees shuffle the deck to find a starting role for Okamoto?  No.

The Yankees don’t typically rely on the Japanese market for secondary pieces, and there are enough question marks about how his bat will translate, especially as he enters Major League Baseball nearing his 30th birthday.  By comparison, Seiya Suzuki was 27 when he began his MLB journey. His first season wasn’t special, but he has picked up the pace since.

1B/3B Munetaka Murakami

The Yakult Swallows have officially posted Murakami. While free agent signings can take a while during the Hot Stove season, Murakami has a deadline. He must sign with a Major League club by December 22.

It wouldn’t shock anyone if the Yankees handed out short-term deals to Anthony Rizzo and Paul Goldschmidt, with thoughts of Murakami in mind. That is likely more true of Rizzo, who signed a 2-year contract with a 2025 team option after the 2022 season. How convenient that they gave Rizzo this deal right after Murakami hit .318/.458/.710 with 56 home runs in 612 plate appearances for Yakult. Were the Yankees already thinking of going from Rizzo to Murakami? Maybe.

Murakami put up that season at 22 years old. His prime was still years away, and he was already one of the best hitters in the world.

We should never assume where any career is going.

It isn’t that Murakami has been a bad hitter since 2022. In 2025, he hit .273/.379/.663 with 22 home runs in 224 plate appearances (he added two home runs in 13 games for Yakult’s minor league team, as he was rehabbing from an oblique injury). Was this a bounce-back to his 2022 insanity? It’s hard to know. What we do know is that 2023 (.256/.375/.500) and 2024 (.244/.379/.472) weren’t as strong, though they were compiled in a league enviornment that favored pitching.

The interesting thing about those two seasons is that they are still good seasons. They are seasons that would intrigue MLB teams, even if he were no longer viewed as a Japanese combination of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. 

You have likely been exposed to one of the disturbing metrics in his stat line:  Strikeouts. In 2024, he owned a 29.5% strikeout rate. This year, he reduced that to 28.6%. These numbers are scary to MLB talent evaluators because the assumption is that his strikeout rate will go up against MLB pitchers.  Additionally, he hit under .100 this year against fastballs 93 MPH+. I will get into that more in a bit.

From what I read, he is unlikely to be an MLB-caliber third baseman and will need to settle in as a first baseman in MLB. Over his career in Japan, he mostly played third base.

From the Yankees’ perspective, the first thing they will ask is if the MLB version of Murakami will outshine Ben Rice. That evaluation will include cost, as Murakami’s contract will dwarf what the Yankees will pay Rice.

I am all about acquiring talent and figuring things out from there. However, Murakami’s name would be added to a mix that includes Rice, Giancarlo Stanton, Ryan McMahon (if they think Murakami can play any third base at all), and Austin Wells (a Murakami signing could push Rice towards more plate appearances as a catcher). Given Stanton’s injury history, this isn’t an impossible situation to figure out.

Now comes the part that is impossible for fans and beat writers to evaluate:

The Yankees seem desperate to add a Japanese star to their organization. They haven’t signed one since Masahiro Tanaka. They unsuccessfully tried to sign Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki.

Will Hal Steinbrenner see enough dollar signs in Murakami to make a significant push to sign him?  Regardless of the numbers on the field (which, again, are good), Steinbrenner may see someone who can bring the Yankees back in the Japanese market. Remember that before Ohtani shunned the East Coast, the Yankees (not the Dodgers) were always assumed to be the team that could get any Japanese talent they wanted. The Yankees want Japanese players to see them in that light again, and signing one of Japan’s biggest stars would help that.

Back to the velocity issue: It is fair to ask if Murakami will be able to figure out how to be a consistent bat in a Major League lineup. While reports out of Japan indicate that velocity gives him trouble, I hesitate to take that as proof that he will never be able to catch up to an MLB fastball. Maybe he needs more exposure to high velocity to adjust to it.

I think most Yankees fans drooled when they saw what a left-handed bat did in Japan only three years ago. He was young and dominant. A potential franchise-level player with international intrigue.  The first true masher to come to the States since Hideki Matsui.  

Now?  There are questions to answer. The idea of adding a Japanese player is likely still high on the front office’s wish list. But is Murakami the one?  I am inclined to pass, recognizing it could be a mistake.

RHP Tatsuya Imai

Japan is currently in a “dead ball” era, evidenced by Imai’s 1.92 ERA ranking only sixth in the league.

The hard-throwing right-hander posted that 1.92 ERA along with a 178/45 K/BB over 163.2 innings. This was his age-27 season, so a team investing in him will get some prime seasons.

Are there red flags?  Yes. While Imai throws hard and features an impressive mix of pitches, he stands only 5’11” and is listed at 154 pounds. If that is accurate, he will be on the smaller side for an MLB pitcher. One pitcher he is compared to (the Mets’ Kodai Senga) is 6’1″ and weighs over 200 pounds.

I stated a few weeks ago that I am not sure if the Yankees want to invest in another big contract for a starting pitcher. They have big money owed to Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Max Fried. However, it would be accurate to be somewhat concerned about the early part of next season. Cole and Rodon won’t be ready, and Clarke Schmidt would be a second-half addition.

With Cole getting older, Luis Gil‘s not-so-clean injury history, and Cam Schlittler potentially looking at an innings limit, would the Yankees be interested in using Imai in a 6-man rotation? Maybe? It’s not easy to pull off, especially with Cole married to his routine (which is part of what makes him great).

For now, the April rotation consists of Fried-Gil-Schlittler-Will Warren-?. The Yankees could open up a competition for that 5th spot, or bring back Ryan Yarbrough. But that’s a rotation with its share of question marks, with people assuming Cole/Rodon will come back fully healthy and productive.

Bottom Line:

You can make a case that the Yankees can use any of these three.  Okamoto adds a right-handed bat, which would balance the lineup. Murakami’s power could translate. Imai helps out a rotation that one can argue is either deep or shallow, depending on how you feel about their injured pitchers and emerging prospects.

That said, I expect a 0-for-3 winter. There isn’t enough smoke out there (Imai has generated some) to convince me that the Yankees feel this is the Japanese market for them to engage in.