Southpaw Shota Imanaga's impending posting has thrown more fuel onto MLB's offseason "hot stove league," MLB.com reported Saturday, with teams seeing him as either a No. 2 or No. 3 starter.
Sports website The Athletic estimated that the 30-year-old DeNA BayStars lefty might get a four-year deal worth $52 million in total.
Imanaga impressed in his two innings as the starting and winning pitcher for Japan in the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in March.
The MLB.com article raved about his split-fingered change, the pitch he used to strike out former National League MVP Paul Goldschmidt in the WBC final.
It also cited his average fastball velocity during the WBC of 94.4 miles per hour as ranking him higher than the average speed for left-handed starters in MLB. Imanaga, however, said those figures were a result of a WBC role where he worked "more like a reliever."
In Japan, though, his fastball velocity did tick up this year to a career-high 147.7 kph (91.8 mph), according to Japan pro baseball data site Delta Graphs, with exceptional spin that should make it extremely effective.