MLB Rumors: Grading the fit for every Shota Imanaga finalist

This offseason was centered around two Japanese superstars, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Both of those players were expected to receive monster contracts, and the deals they got might've even blown those crazy expectations out of the water with the totals adding up to over $1 billion between the two.

While Ohtani and Yamamoto have been the talk of the offseason, there's another Japanese pitcher who is making the move to the United States. Shota Imanaga is making the transition from the NPB to MLB, and is looking for his next team. He doesn't have the potential of an Ohtani or Yamamoto, but that's not to say he's a bad pitcher by any means.

MLB Trade Rumors projected this southpaw would get a five-year deal worth $85 million. With how much money starting pitchers are making, there's a good chance he's going to earn more than that. He could be another starter who signs a nine-figure deal.

Former GM and current MLB Insider for The Athletic Jim Bowden says that the Imanaga finalists are down to four teams. Some of those fits make more sense than others. Let's grade them.

4) Shota Imanaga signs with the Red Sox: B-

The Boston Red Sox have had a strange offseason, to say the least. They've dumped money by trading Alex Verdugo and Chris Sale, and all they've done is acquire Vaughn Grissom and sign Lucas Giolito. Grissom could be their second baseman of the future, but is unproven. Giolito gives the Red Sox more reliability than Sale did, but he's had an ERA approaching 5.00 each of the last two seasons.

The Red Sox entered the offseason with their starting rotation as a glaring need. With the calendar flipped to the new year, that remains a glaring need with Giolito being the lone addition, taking Sale's place.

With the Red Sox in desperate need of frontline starting pitching, arms like Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell should be their priority over a pitcher like Imanaga who can be good, but is nothing more than an unproven commodity.

While Snell and Montgomery should be their top priorities, Boston should still be in on Imanaga as a fallback. Even if he's not the ace they need, he's certainly an upgrade over most of their rotation, if not the entire staff with Giolito so unpredictable.