In something of a surprise move, the Astros added Tatsuya Imai to their rotation on a three year deal that includes a lot of opt-outs.
A lot of these incentives are interesting in that they kind of indicate that maybe a lot of teams aren’t really sure he’ll translate to being a starter in MLB. Otherwise, those different levels wouldn’t be so low ($1 million to throw 80 innings?). It’s reasonable contract that will reward both player and team if he is able to make the transition.
Did the Phillies miss the boat by not trying to match this deal? Paying $18 million a year if you really only see him as a reliever would have to mean he is a lockdown reliever in the Josh Hader-type mold, something maybe the Phillies weren’t really comfortable doing. The risk is real. However, if they had trusted in their pitching development enough to think they could make him into a starter, then they would likely have made the deal.
We’ll never know.
