The Seattle Mariners got some bad news on New Years Day, as the rival Houston Astros made a big move on the free agent market, signing Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai to a three-year deal.

Per Chandler Rome of The Athletic:

The Astros are in agreement with Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai on a three-year contract, source tells @TheAthletic. The deal maxes out at $63 million and contains opt outs after every season.

About Imai

Not even 28 years old yet, Imai is an eight-year veteran of the NPB. Playing for Seibu, he’s gone 58-45 with a 3.15 ERA, striking out 907 batters in 963.2 innings. MLBTradeRumors had him ranked as the No. 7 free agent in the league at the outset of the offseason.

The following came from MLBTradeRumors in that projection:

He sits in the mid-90s with his fastball and can push towards the upper 90s at his best. Imai’s slider is the best secondary offering in a four- or five-pitch repertoire. One evaluator with whom MLBTR spoke felt Imai projected more as a back-end arm or a late-inning reliever, but the team that wins the bidding is naturally going to be one that is confident he’ll be an above-average starter.

How Imai impacts the Astros

Hunter Brown is the ace of the Astros, but Imai figures to slot in right behind him with Mike Burrows, especially as the ‘Stros have injury concerns with Cristian Javier, Spencer Arrighetti, Ronel Blanco and Lance McCullers.

How this impacts the Mariners

It’s undeniable that the Mariners won the American League West in 2025, in part because of the injury issues that the Astros faced, especially in the starting rotation. The Mariners pathway to winning the American League West again in 2026 just got tougher, and that can’t be understated, especially as the M’s look to get back to the American League Championship Series – and hopefully the World Series.

It should be noted that Framber Valdez is currently a free agent, so the Astros have lost a big piece, but Burrows and Imai will give them a solid top-three, and anything that makes the Astros better is bad for the Mariners.

What’s next for the Mariners?

The Mariners have seemingly just two things left to do this offseason, but it’s unclear if they will actually do them: They are in the market for another infielder, and have been linked to both Ketel Marte and Brendan Donovan on the trade market, and they could use another reliever. We examined the state of the bullpen here.

Spring training begins in six weeks and Opening Day is March 26, which is now less than three months away.