Right-hander Tatsuya Imai and the Houston Astros have agreed to a $54 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced.<\/p>\n
Imai gets a $2 million signing bonus and salaries of $16 million this year and $18 million in each of the final two seasons. <\/p>\n
Based on his 2026 performance, his 2027 salary would escalate by $2 million each for 80, 90 and 100 innings, and his 2028 salary by $1 million for each level. <\/p>\n
If he doesn’t pitch 80 innings in 2026 and does in 2027, his 2028 salary would rise by $1 million. If he doesn’t pitch 90 innings in 2026 and does in 2027, his 2028 salary would increase by another $1 million. And if he doesn’t pitch 100 innings in 2026 and does in 2027, his 2028 salary also would increase by another $1 million.<\/p>\n
Imai can opt out after the 2026 and 2027 seasons.<\/p>\n
Under the posting agreement between Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball, a deal must be finalized by 5 p.m. EST Friday.<\/p>\n
Imai receives the third-highest average annual value for a Japanese pitcher entering Major League Baseball behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s $27.08 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> in a deal that started in 2024 and Masahiro Tanaka’s $22.14 million with the New York Yankees<\/a> in a contract that ran from 2014-20.<\/p>\n A 27-year-old righty, Imai went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA last season for the Pacific League\u2019s Seibu Lions. He struck out 178 batters in 163 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n Imai is 58-45 with a 3.15 ERA in eight seasons with Seibu, with 907 strikeouts in 963 2\/3 innings. He is a three-time All-Star.<\/p>\n Imai pitched eight innings of a combined no-hitter against Fukuoka on April 18. He struck out 17 against Yokohama on June 17, breaking Daisuke Matsuzaka\u2019s previous team record of 16 from 2004.<\/p>\n Under MLB\u2019s posting agreement with NPB, Seibu will get a posting fee of $9.675 million from the Astros and a supplemental fee of 15% of any earned bonuses, salary escalators and exercised options.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n