A 45-day period for Shota Imanaga to negotiate with major league teams opened on November 28. Today is the 42nd day of the period and the Japanese lefty is still on the free market. The 30-year-old has until Thursday at 5 p.m. to sign a contract with an MLB club.
MLB Network’s John Paul Morosi wrote Sunday that Imanga continues to draw interest from at least five teams. Jim Bowden of The Athletic previously reported that the Cubs, Angels, Giants and Red Sox were finalists to sign the left-hander. That figure was confirmed by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who wrote Sunday that Imanga had “four teams seriously bidding for his services,” including the Red Sox and Cubs.
But according to MLB.com’s Mark Feisand’s source, San Francisco could emerge as the favorite.
“Everything points to the Giants,” the source said. “They were left without (Shohi) Ohtani and (Yoshinobu) Yamamoto, and even though Imanaga is not at the same level as those guys, they don’t want to leave again.”
Feinsand recently listed the Yankees and Mets as two other teams competing for Imanga. The left-hander posted a 2.96 ERA over 1,100 innings over eight years in Nippon Professional Baseball. According to Feinsand, some scouts project Imanaga as a second or third starter for a major league team.
