3 NY Mets trade targets and 3 free agents who make too much sense to avoid

2) Sign Tatsuya Imai

The problem with many of the best starting pitchers who enter free agency is they get a qualifying offer. With that comes a huge penalty. The Mets lose two draft picks plus $1 million in international bonus slot money. It’s non-negotiable with a player like Juan Soto. When it comes to several other free agents, it’s a slight stain.

Tatsuya Imai only has a posting fee added on to whatever contract he receives. At 27-years-old, the Mets have an excuse to do two different things with Imai. One is to put all of their trust into him on a long-term contract. The other is to give him a contract that gives the player and team an eject button after two years or so.

Imai is coming off of a 1.92 ERA season in Japan and would immediately challenge Nolan McLean for the number one spot in the rotation. There’s always a sense of mystery with free agents coming from overseas whether it be someone who reinvented themselves after a failed career in MLB or a guy coming back to North America for the first time like Imai.

Signing Imai would require the Mets to make the kind of starting pitcher commitment they’ve tried to avoid more often than not. Although very different players, the short two years received by Munetaka Murakami is at least a minor suggestion of Imai being a player who could end up coming to a team on a shorter deal to prove himself before truly cashing in. Three years on a high AAV feels too right for the Mets.