From Hideki Matsui to Daisuke Matsuzaka, Masahiro Tanaka, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Japanese players generate significant excitement when making the leap to MLB. For most NPB fans, this moment is bittersweet. While they take pride in seeing their favorite stars pursue their dreams on baseball’s biggest stage, it’s hard not to feel the loss of cheering them on at home. This winter, five more NPB stars are looking for MLB opportunities through international free agency or the posting system. Let’s see who they are!
Roki Sasaki
With the exception of superstar Juan Soto, Sasaki is widely regarded as the No. 1 player available to MLB teams this offseason. The 23-year-old phenom dominated the Japanese circuit for four seasons, posting a 2.10 ERA, 1.78 FIP, and 32.7 K% across 394.2 innings of work. He never completed a full season, but his peak was as good as any pitcher in NPB history. Most NPB stars aren’t posted until they turn 25 due to MLB’s rules on international amateur bonus pool money, but Sasaki had an early posting agreement in place with the Lotte Marines. As a result, his contract will be limited to about $5 million instead of a massive $325 million deal like Yoshinobu Yamamoto received last offseason.
The Dodgers and Padres are the clear frontrunners, but every team is financially capable of signing him. It all comes down to where Sasaki wants to play for the next six years. Apart from durability concerns, Sasaki is expected to be an immediate ace-caliber arm, comparable to Hunter Greene or Paul Skenes, with a fastball that averages 98-100 mph, a wipeout split-finger in the high-80s, and an evolving slider in the mid-80s.
Tomoyuki Sugano
In terms of longevity and accolades, Sugano is like the Japanese Clayton Kershaw. In 2024, he had a big bounce-back season and took home his third career Central League MVP with a 1.67 ERA across 156.2 innings. For his entire 12-year NPB career, he has an excellent 2.43 ERA, 3.20 FIP, and 21.4 K% in over 1850 frames. The veteran right-hander was initially posted to MLB after the 2020 season in a rare move by the Yomiuri Giants (his uncle Tatsunori Hara was the manager at the time), but he was unable to reach an agreement with any team during the posting window.
Now, he’ll try his luck again as a free agent going into his age-35 season and will likely receive a one or two-year offer. Sugano features a six-pitch mix consisting of a four-seamer, cutter, sinker, slider, splitter, and curveball, with slider and splitter rating as his best weapons this past season. There are concerns about how his stuff will translate to MLB, but the command specialist is capable of being a serviceable mid-to-back rotation arm.
Shinnosuke Ogasawara
Just two years ago, Ogasawara had a strikeout rate exceeding that of Chicago Cubs rookie sensation Shota Imanaga. He’s regressed since then, but the 27-year-old southpaw has had his sights on MLB for a while and can likely find a smaller market suitor. Ogasawara trained in the US last winter and is still young enough to continue developing stateside.
He’s accumulated over 950 innings of NPB experience over nine seasons with the Chunichi Dragons and had a 3.12 ERA in 144.1 innings this past year. While his 13.6 K% in 2024 appears underwhelming, it has been closer to 20% in previous years, and he made up for it with a career-best 3.7 BB%. He has a five-pitch arsenal consisting of a four-seamer in the low-90s with a curveball, changeup, slider, and splitter.
Aren Kuri
Kuri, who is half-American, has been a mainstay in the Hiroshima Carp’s rotation for the better part of a decade. Overall, he owns a 71-67 record and a 3.49 ERA in 1260 innings of work. In 2023, he had a career year with a 2.53 ERA and 3.07 FIP in 174.1 innings. In 2024, he regressed slightly to a 3.21 ERA and 3.54 FIP but still maintained a solid 18.0 K% and 5.5 BB%. The 33-year-old doesn’t stand out in anything and only averages 88-91 mph on his fastball, but he mixes speeds well with a sinker, cutter, slider, and nasty splitter. He’s also an international free agent, meaning MLB organizations won’t be required to pay a posting fee if they sign him.
Koyo Aoyagi
Aoyagi was once a premier pitcher in the Central League, posting a sub-2.50 ERA for two consecutive years from 2021 to 2022. Though he’s struggled in recent years with a 4.24 ERA since 2023, the Tokyo Olympic Gold Medalist has a deceptive low sidearm slot and is always towards the top of the NPB leaderboard in groundball rate. He’s unlikely to land an MLB offer, but a change of scenery on a minor league pact could benefit the Hanshin Tigers right-hander.
- NPB Standings
- Central League Hitting Leaders
- Central League Pitching Leaders
- Pacific League Hitting Leaders
- Pacific League Pitching Leaders
- Yuri’s NPB Pitcher Rankings
- Yakyu Cosmopolitan’s Website
