San Francisco Giants fans had to feel sick to their stomach watching the World Series as the rival Los Angeles Dodgers took the hardware for the second straight year. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was at the heart of that, pitching a complete game and closing out Game 7 to capture World Series MVP honors. Again, none of that is fun for a Giants fan, but the team might be able to flip that script this offseason as Japanese free agent Tatsuya Imai is not only being connected to San Francisco, but is already being compared to the Dodgers star and World Series MVP by players who faced both.
David Mackinnon, who spent parts of the 2022 season in MLB with the Athletics and Angels, played the 2023 season in Japan in the NPB, where he faced Imai along with Yamamoto and another young Dodgers flamethrower, Roki Sasaki. At least from Mackinnon's perspective, though, the 27-year-old thought that Imai was actually the toughest matchup to face as a hitter, saying that he was "the hardest person to hit with the best stuff."
Giants are one of the early favorites to sign Tatsuya Imai in free agency
Now, it should be said, Mackinnon did make these observations, as he noted in his assessment, during live batting practice against Imai. However, after watching what Yamamoto and Sasaki have been able to do after adjusting to the MLB level, the thought of a pitcher, who Mackinnon also noted has gotten better every year since facing him in 2023, having nastier stuff has to intrigue Giants fans.
That's especially true given that San Francisco has already been pretty heavily connected to the Japanese free agent. While Imai hasn't been posted yet by the Saitama Seibu Lions, MLB.com insider Jon Paul Morosi mentioned only the Giants among possible MLB suitors for the free agent.
And speaking to his quality — and even Mackinnon's point that he's gotten better with each year — Imai has put together quite a résumé in Japan since debuting in 2017 at 19 years old. Across 159 games in NPB action, he has a 3.15 ERA and 1.267 WHIP with 907 strikeouts to 468 walks in 963.2 innings pitched. But that was even more dominant the past two years, most eye-poppingly putting up a 1.92 ERA and 0.892 WHIP across 163.2 innings with 178 strikeouts and just 45 walks in the 2025 season with Seibu.
The Giants already have a strong top of the rotation with Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, not to mention the young arms like Landen Roupp and Hayden Birdsong, among others, who should have fans intrigued. But with the body of work Imai has put forth and with a 95+ mph fastball and filthy breaking stuff, this might be a high-end opportunity for them to upgrade their roster and better compete with the Dodgers to renew the rivalry.
Imai coming to San Francisco and thriving in the way Yamamoto and, at the end of the year and in the postseason, Sasaki have would certainly do that.
Imai could help reignite the fire of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry further
There's no doubt that the disdain between the Giants and Dodgers hasn't gone away. However, LA's dominance in recent years has shifted matters in the rivalry quite negatively for San Francisco fans. They haven't been able to even get close to the level of the world champions, particularly in regard to postseason success.
Imai bolstering the rotation could obviously help close that gap while the Giants are clearly going for it under Buster Posey's watch, whether you're talking about the Rafael Devers trade or the hiring of former Tennessee Volunteers head coach Tony Vitello.
But just as importantly, there has been a perception when Japanese players like Sasaki were made available that they were inevitably going to the Dodgers. It's not hard to figure out why, of course. The presence of Shohei Ohtani and their geographic proximity immediately makes Los Angeles an attractive destination for Japanese players, which has only been furthered with the arrivals of Yamamoto and Sasaki.
So, for the Giants to be able to lure a top Japanese arm in free agency to San Francisco would be perceived as a win in itself over the Dodgers. That's especially true considering that LA is likely to be in the market for more pitching this offseason.
When you factor that into a talented right-hander who can help further close the gap with the Dodgers, it's hard not to be enticed at the possibility if you're a Giants fan. That's especially true if San Francisco can continue to show further aggression beyond Imai to fill holes at second base and in the outfield. If that happens, then get ready for the Giants-Dodgers rivalry to be more fiery and hotly contested than it has been for some time now.