Kona

Takahashi

All signs pointed to a muted market for Takahashi this offseason, and that belief only strengthened when fellow Japanese righty Tatsuya Imai landed what was essentially a series of one-year deals with the Astros earlier this week. The 28-year-old righty, who had until later this weekend to reach an agreement with a major-league club, will return to Japan without one. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds that Takahashi received offers from three teams but opted to return to Japan instead. He lacks the requisite strikeout upside to envision a scenario where he would be a mixed-league relevant fantasy option but he’s a name to know in the event that he makes some changes and unlocks something in the future.

Takahashi is holding out for something better prior to his Sunday deadline for finalizing a deal with an MLB club, but teams probably aren’t seeing much of a ceiling here. The 28-year-old right-hander went 8-9 with a 3.04 ERA and an 88/41 K/BB in 148 innings for Seibu last season. The 14.3% strikeout rate was the lowest mark of his career, and he’s never topped 20% in seven seasons in Japan.

It’s been known for a couple of weeks that this was coming, but now it’s official. Takahashi, 28, was terrific for the Lions in 2022 and ’23, amassing a 2.20 ERA between the two seasons, but he was 0-11 with a 3.87 ERA in 2024 and 8-9 with a league-average 3.04 ERA and just 88 strikeouts in 148 innings last season. MLB teams might be interested in seeing how he’d perform out of the pen; he’d probably be more consistently in the mid-90s with his fastball as a reliever and his splitter would make for a nice No. 2 pitch. As a starter, he’s a much tougher sell. He’ll have until Jan. 4 to come to terms.

This was always likely going to be the case, but it is now official. The 28-year-old Takahashi posted a 3.41 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and 88/41 K/BB ratio in 148 innings this season. For his career, he has a 3.39 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 870 strikeouts in 1199 NPB innings. Obviously, the strikeout numbers are below average, which makes him a risky bet to transition well to the big leagues. Still, his track record of success in Japan means that some team could be interested in using him as a swing reliever or bringing him in as organizational depth for their rotation.