3 more starting pitching targets for Dodgers after GM Brandon Gomes’ comments

Shōta Imanaga

If Shōta Imanaga had been posted by NPB in a year without Yoshinobu Yamamoto, we might be making a bigger deal about him than we currently are. Imanaga, who's five years older than Yamamoto but has fewer accolades under his belt in Japan, has seemingly sparked interest from all of the teams who are also in on Yamamoto. It might be a bit harsh -- but not entirely inaccurate -- to say that Imanaga would be a consolation prize for any of the teams that don't get Yamamoto. Imanaga, 30, won't be able to give a team as many years as Yamamoto, and the (deserved) hype for Yamamoto just outshines Imanaga. He would, however, probably cost half of what Yamamoto will.

But the Dodgers, who some expected to pull back on Yamamoto after signing Shohei Ohtani, seem to be operating on a "why not both?" mentality. Why not both Ohtani and Yamamoto, so why not both Yamamoto and Imanaga? Imanaga would add a veteran mentality to the Dodgers' rotation, has consistently pitched over 140 innings in all of his eight seasons overseas, and has maintained a sub-3.00 career ERA. The Dodgers could go from having zero Japanese players on the team to getting three in one offseason.