With the growing need for pitching after reports indicated on Monday that the New York Yankees will be without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon to start the season, it gives Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner even more of a reason to go out and try to land some of the top arms available.
At the top of the list for the Yankees should be Tatsuya Imai, one of the better right-handers in the world, who is coming over from Japan this winter.
Imai has proven a lot during his time in Japan, being a professional since he was 19 years old.
According to Brian Cashman, it sounds like the Yankees are going to be involved with the right-hander. He acknowledged that Scott Boras represents him and he has a long list of talented players on his client list.
Imai is one of them he’s looking at.
"Very talented player coming over from Japan," Cashman said, per YES Network. "We've certainly taken our big swings for trying to add some more talented players, whether they're local or overseas, as far as Japan. So, Scott Boras represents him. So, he's got a long list of talented players on his roster. So, I'm talking to a lot of different agents. But he's obviously one of them as well."
It’s always tough to say a player will come over from Japan and find instant success in Major League Baseball.
At the end of the day, it’s a much different game, but pitchers usually translate well.
Imai’s stuff is as good as it gets, so that should be all the Yankees need to see.
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