The Los Angeles Angels lost Shohei Ohtani and have yet to replace him.
With the Angels reportedly interested in players like Blake Snell and Teoscar Hernandez, we’ve seen hints as to how they might replace him, but it’s unclear if the Halos will actually end up with both or even just one of those players.
It is yet unclear exactly what the plan entails. Although Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that the Angels are considering a trade for a frontline starter and are more interested in the “second tier” of free agent starting pitchers, the team has been linked to some of the best free agents.
The reader must decide for themselves what the second tier signifies. Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell are the best, in my opinion. These are the arms that
1) Imanaga Shota
Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, two Japanese free agents, have received all of the attention this offseason. This makes sense because Yamamoto, a 25-year-old sensation, is expected to help lead the Dodgers rotation for many years to come, and Ohtani is the best player in the game. Shota Imanaga is a third Japanese pitcher who is also very good but doesn’t get nearly as much attention.
Imanaga has pitched for the Yokohama DeNA Baystars in the National Baseball League (NPL) for the past eight years. In 192 appearances and 1,129 innings pitched, he has a 2.96 ERA. Throughout his entire NPB career, he has been incredibly reliable, and in 2023, he just finished another fantastic season.
With 24 starts and 159 innings pitched, Imanaga recorded a 2.66 ERA, striking out 188 batters against just 24 walks. Even though he wasn’t nearly as skilled as Yamamoto, he was still quite good.
Although he is not nearly as intriguing to MLB teams as Yamamoto is at 30, he will still receive a high-paying multi-year contract. A five-year contract worth $85 million is anticipated by MLB Trade Rumours, which is fairly comparable to the agreement
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