While it has been more than eight months since Japan captured the World Baseball Classic title, the talent that carried that team to the championship is once again in the spotlight during this MLB offseason.
Three members of that Japanese team — Shota Imanaga, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — are among the most coveted players on the MLB free agent market this offseason. Imanaga is expected to be posted on Monday by the Yokohama BayStars of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, setting off another flurry of activity, following Yamamoto's posting by the Orix Buffaloes roughly a week ago. The duo is hoping to follow in the successful footsteps of Japanese players like Ohtani, who has become an icon on both sides of the Pacific as a two-time American League Most Valuable Player.
So where will the three Japanese superstars end up? Here are my predictions.
MLB prediction: Shota Imanaga will sign with the Chicago Cubs
Chicago has already shown it can be a spot where Japanese players can flourish, with Seiya Suzuki posting a combined 120 OPS+ in his two seasons playing at Wrigley Field and Kosuke Fukudome making his presence felt in the outfield at the corners of Clark and Addison before that.
All of that history, along with Chicago's reported interest in him and willingness to spend to improve its pitching this offseason, sets the foundation for Imanaga to don a Cubs uniform in 2023 and beyond.
MLBTradeRumors.com is predicting a five-year, $85 million deal (plus the posting fee to Yokohama) will be what it takes to land Imanaga. After the Cubs just missed out on the postseason in 2023, look for Chicago to continue to be aggressive this offseason by inking Imanaga.
MLB prediction: Yoshinobu Yamamoto will sign with the New York Yankees
Sure, there are plenty of St. Louis Cardinals fans who are connecting the dots with Lars Nootbaar playing for Team Japan and then playing a round of golf with Yamamoto this offseason, believing that that will be enough to land Yamamoto under the Gateway Arch. However, when all is said and done, there should be little that will stop the New York Yankees from spending what it takes to land the 25-year-old pitcher.
MLBTradeRumors.com is projecting Yamamoto will earn a nine-year, $225 million deal, so the Yankees will have to pay in that neighborhood (plus the posting fee to Orix) in order to have him in the rotation. New York is one of several teams that has expressed interest in Yamamoto early, and I have already predicted that the Yankees will come to terms with him before the MLB winter meetings are over in early December, so I have to stick with my gut on this one.
There has been some miscommunication about whether Yamamoto prefers to play with a Japanese teammate, and some of that was cleared up on Saturday when a "translation error" in an interview with his agent (Joel Wolfe) revealed that that isn't as important to him as first believed.
A recent article said that Yamamoto was "intrigued" by the history of the Yankees, and that future history will include him as one of the pitchers to take the mound in the Bronx.
MLB prediction: Shohei Ohtani will sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers
After another disappointing exit from the postseason, expect the Dodgers to do whatever it takes to land Ohtani and strengthen their All-Star lineup even more.
Making the move from the Angels to the Dodgers seems like a logical step for Ohtani, who can stay on the West Coast and immediately be closer to winning a championship than he was during his days in Anaheim.
With the Dodgers and after his offseason surgery, Ohtani can focus on serving as the team's designated hitter this season without any pressure to return to the mound. That discussion can wait for another day as the Dodgers can boost their lineup this season with Ohtani and potentially their rotation with him in the years that follow.
MLB insider Jon Heyman writes that the San Francisco Giants will join the Cubs and Dodgers "are believed going big" to land Ohtani but "some say Ohtani loves southern California." The Cubs and Giants both missed the postseason last year and, even though both have turned to new managers to turn around their fortunes, look for Ohtani to start the season with the Dodgers when they open up in Seoul, South Korea on March 20 against the San Diego Padres.
