Major League Baseball said Monday it has notified its 30 clubs that Japanese pitchers Shota Imanaga and Naoyuki Uwasawa are available for contract talks after being posted.
Both left-handed starter Imanaga and right-handed starter Uwasawa have a 45-day window to be signed, starting Tuesday and ending Jan. 11 at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
Imanaga started for Japan and was the winning pitcher in the final of the 2023 World Baseball Classic against the United States.
The 30-year-old led the Central League with 174 strikeouts over 148 innings this year, while having a 7-4 record and a 2.80 ERA in 22 games.
Imanaga threw a no-hitter on June 7, 2022, in an interleague game against the Nippon Ham Fighters and has a 64-50 career record with a 3.18 ERA over eight seasons, all with the DeNA BayStars.
The 29-year-old Uwasawa won and lost nine games each and finished the 2023 season with a 2.96 ERA and has a 70-62 career record with a 3.19 ERA over nine seasons, all with the Pacific League's Fighters.
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