Mets poach Japanese star pitcher Kodai Senga to add to stockpile of stars

The New York Mets continue their strong offseason, reportedly signing Japanese star pitcher Kodai Senga.

The New York Mets have been one of the most active teams this offseason. They managed to retain stars like closer Edwin Diaz and outfielder Brandon Nimmo on multi-year contracts. However, they did lose ace Jacob deGrom to the Texas Rangers on a monstrous five-year contract. The Mets made multiple additions to their rotation upon deGrom’s exit, such as 2022 AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander and Jose Quintana.. Now, they have brought in one of the top starting pitchers available in free agency.

According to Andy Martino of SNY, the Mets are in agreement with Japanese star pitcher Kodai Senga, filling out their starting rotation.

Kodai Senga contract details: Mets land Japanese star pitcher

As for the contract details, Martino elaborated further in an additional tweet. The Mets and Senga agreed to terms on a five-year, $75 million contract.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the deal does include a no-trade clause, and an opt-out after the third season.

With their latest signing of Senga, the Mets competitive balance tax (CBT) payroll is now approximately $345 million, and the current payroll is $421 million with the penalties, per ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan.

Senga and the Mets were linked to one another throughout the MLB Winter Meetings in San Diego, Calif. Now, an agreement has been reached, as long as Senga passes his physical.

After spending 11 seasons with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the Nippon Professional Baseball League, Senga exercised his opt-out clause. This past season, Senga recorded a 1.89 ERA, a 1.041 WHIP, an 11-6 win-loss record, 159 strikeouts, and 50 walks in 148.0 innings (23 games). Overall, Senga holds a 2.59 ERA, a 1.115 WHIP, and 1,252 strikeouts over 1,089.0 innings (224 games).

Senga will now join a Mets starting rotation consisting of Max Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, Verlander, and Quintana.