Mets sign rumored SF Giants target Kodai Senga to five-year, $75 million deal

The New York Mets agreed to a five-year, $75 million contract with longtime NPB star Kodai Senga, who was rumored to be an SF Giants target.

Another potential SF Giants free-agent target has come off the board, with right-handed pitcher Kodai Senga agreeing to a five-year, $75 million contract with the New York Mets. The deal was first reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN. Senga was the 24th-best free agent available this offseason, per Giants Baseball Insider's rankings.

Longtime NPB star Kodai Senga signed with the New York Mets / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Giants were tied to Senga throughout the offseason. The 29-year-old starter had spent the entirety of his pro career with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the NPB but became a free agent this winter and wanted to join an MLB team. The Giants hosted Senga at Oracle Park in mid-November, putting a photo of Senga in a Giants uniform on the scoreboard. Then, a later report revealed they were "heavily involved" in Senga's market in the leadup to the Winter Meetings.

A report by Jon Heyman of the New York Post made the offseason even more frustrating for Giants fans. He tweeted, "#SFGiants were in strong on Senga. Lost out to Mets."

#SFGiants were in strong on Senga. Lost out to Mets, who have an outstanding rotation but are running up the tax bill.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 11, 2022

Senga was a three-time All-Star in Japan, earning his first selection as a 20-year-old reliever in 2013, and again as a starter in 2017 and 2019. He won the Japan Series with the Hawks in 2015. In 2017, the Hawks won the first of four straight Japan Series, and Senga was the ace of the staff, pitching the opening game of all four series.

Over his NPB career with the Hawks, Senga recorded a 2.59 ERA in 224 games with 1,252 strikeouts and 414 walks in 1,089 innings pitched. In 2022, Senga posted a 1.90 ERA in 144 innings pitched (22 starts) with 156 strikeouts and 49 walks.

Despite his elite productivity, Senga does carry some risk given a relatively lengthy injury history, which includes shoulder problems. He has only accrued more than 150 innings pitched in two seasons over his 11-year career and has never eclipsed 200 innings in a season. For context, other prominent Japanese starters like Yu Darvish and Daisuke Matsuzaka had multiple 200+ inning seasons in the NPB before coming stateside at younger ages than Senga.

Nevertheless, the SF Giants will now have to look elsewhere to fill out their starting rotation. Perhaps Kodai Senga's deal with the Mets leads them to push more aggressively for a reunion with Carlos Rodón.