Orioles Have More Free Agency Options After NPB Postings

The Baltimore Orioles can now negotiate with Japanese pitchers Shota Imanaga and Naoyuki Uwasawa.

With the departure of Sonny Gray from the free-agent market, the Baltimore Orioles have two more pitchers they can potentially pursue thanks to Nippon Professional Baseball postings on Monday.

Shota Imanaga, who plays for the Yokohama BayStars, and Naoyuki Uwasawa, who plays for the Nippon-Ham Fighters, are now on the market and all 30 MLB teams can talk to them and their representatives.

As with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was posted last Monday, teams have 45 days to reach a deal with either Imagana or Uwasawa or they revert back to Japan.

The Kyodo News reported Imanaga’s posting, while MLB.com reported Uwasawa’s posting.

While Imagana and Uwasawa have until Jan. 11 to reach a deal, Yamamoto has until Jan. 4.

Uwasawa, a right-hander who will turn 30 in January, has a 19.7 percent strikeout rate for his career. He has a solid walk rate (7.5 percent) and is coming off a 2023 in which he had a 2.96 ERA in 170 innings and walked just 5.9 percent of the hitters he faced.

He’s thrown more than 1,000 innings and has a career ERA of 3.19.

Imanaga, a 30-year-old left-hander, has a 2.79 ERA, with a 26.2 percent strikeout rate and a 5.9 percent walk rate since the start of the 2019 season.

In 2023, he struck out nearly 30 percent of the hitters he faced in 148 innings, as he posted a 2.80 ERA. He walked just 3.8 percent of the hitters he faced.

MLB Trade Rumors projects that Imanaga could get a five-year deal valued at $85 million.

Yamamoto, however, is the big prize. The 25-year-old has a career record of 70-29 and had a 1.21 ERA in 2023, with a 16-6 record and 169 strikeouts in 164 innings. He threw his second career no-hitter earlier this season. He is expected to land a contract in excess of $200 million.

There is one more player from Asia set to be posted next month.

Outfielder Jung Hoo Lee, who plays for the Kiwoom Heroes in Korean Professional Baseball, should be posted in December. Teams will have 30 days to sign him once he’s posted.

Lee has played in the KBO since he was 18 years old. He spent two years with Nexen before joining Kiwoom. He’s been an incredibly consistent hitter in the KBO, as he’s batted over .300 in each of his seven seasons and has a lifetime batting average of .340. He also has a .992 fielding percentage.