Next wave of talent from Japan, Korea headed to MLB

In impact of talent from top leagues in Japan and Korea, the 2023-2024 offseason was one for the ages in Major League Baseball.

Ten months before he dominated the Yankees in the World Series, Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers.

Shota Imanaga was a National League All-Star in the first season with the Cubs. Jung Hoo Lee, a baseball icon in Korea, received a $113 million guarantee from the Giants and showed promise before season-ending surgery on a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

And Shohei Ohtani, already quite familiar to MLB fans, agreed to a $700 million deal with the Dodgers that remains the largest contract in global sports history.

Will this winter’s Hot Stove surpass that level of excitement and spending?

No.

Just being honest.

But there’s still plenty of intrigue.

Here’s a look at some names MLB fans should know as the offseason begins.

Nippon Professional Baseball

Roki Sasaki, RHP, Chiba Lotte Marines
Sasaki is the consensus top young pitcher in Japan, but it is not yet clear whether the Marines will make him available to MLB clubs via the posting system this winter.

Sasaki would inspire an all-out pursuit reminiscent of Ohtani’s initial contract with the Angels, in league-wide interest and financial scope. Ohtani agreed to a $2.315 million signing bonus with the Angels in the winter of 2017-2018. An unfettered market would have yielded a much larger contract, but the CBA classified Ohtani as an international amateur because he was not yet 25 years old. Sasaki, 22, falls into the same category now.

The Dodgers, whose global brand never has been more powerful, are seen as a top candidate to sign Sasaki whenever he becomes available.

Tomoyuki Sugano, RHP, Yomiuri Giants
Sugano nearly moved to MLB during the 2020-2021 offseason, when the Giants broke with longstanding club tradition and posted him for MLB teams. Sugano showed his sincerity about moving to North America by traveling to the U.S. prior to the January signing deadline; in the end, he couldn’t reach an agreement.

Sugano, now 35, is poised to try again. He’s accumulated enough service time to be an international free agent, so he can pursue options throughout the offseason rather than within a posting window. He’s also coming off a dominant season, in which he went 15-3 with a 1.67 ERA for the Giants over 156 2/3 innings.

Sugano is known for excellent control, with a 6.94 strikeout-to-walk ratio this year. His profile is similar to that of Hiroki Kuroda, who reached the Majors at age 33 and was an effective starter over seven seasons with the Dodgers and Yankees.

The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants were among the teams interested in Sugano following the ’20 season; both teams are likely to pursue pitching again this offseason, although the Giants are under different leadership now.

Kazuma Okamoto, 1B/3B, Yomiuri Giants
World Baseball Classic devotees remember Okamoto as the Japanese slugger whose home run in the 2023 gold medal game provided the margin of victory over Team USA. Okamoto supplies consistent power from the right side, as evidenced by an average of 33 home runs over the past seven seasons.

MLB team officials expect Okamoto to move to North America, although it’s not clear if that will occur this winter or in the future. Sugano’s status could impact the Giants' willingness to post Okamoto this offseason, as the Giants are unaccustomed to losing two high-profile players in the same offseason. The 28-year-old Okamoto has enough service time that he would not be subject to amateur signing-bonus restrictions upon entry.

The Detroit Tigers are one potential suitor for Okamoto. They have expanded their scouting efforts in Asia since Scott Harris took over their baseball operations, and the Tigers are looking to add power after returning to the postseason this year.

Shinnosuke Ogasawara, LHP, Chunichi Dragons
The Dragons have been scouted thoroughly by MLB scouts in recent seasons, thanks in large part to the intriguing right-hander Hiroto Takahashi, although he is not expected to be available this winter. There also should be a market for Ogasawara, although he’s coming off the lowest strikeout rate of his NPB career.

The timing of Ogasawara’s posting remains unclear, since he’s viewed as a back-end starting pitcher by MLB talent evaluators; the Dragons may not want to start the clock on his process until MLB clubs have exhausted higher-priority options. An NPB All-Star as recently as 2023, Ogasawara has traveled to the U.S. before and is well-prepared for the off-field adjustment of playing in North America. He’s also shown a good aptitude for learning new approaches to pitching and could generate more swings and misses by pitching effectively up in the zone.

Korea Baseball Organization

Hye-Seong Kim, 2B, Kiwoom Heroes
A defensive standout in KBO, Kim will be posted by the Heroes this offseason. Some MLB evaluators view Kim as a potential everyday second baseman or high-end utility player with good contact skills.

Kim, 25, is a left-handed hitter who batted .304 or better in each of his past four seasons. He hit a career-best 11 home runs this season but told Jee-Ho Yoo of Yonhap News that he should have performed better. Kim acknowledged that he placed pressure on himself, recognizing that he was in his final KBO season prior to posting.

“I think I’ve been able to learn from this whole experience. I realized having the mental strength is as important as having good physical skills,” Kim told Yoo. “But that is not why I struggled at the plate in the second half. I had set high goals to push myself as a baseball player, but I tried too hard to get there.”

The Mariners, Red Sox, Giants and Angels are among the teams likely to pursue upgrades at second base this offseason. The Dodgers had an in-person look at Kim while playing against him in an exhibition prior to the season-opening Seoul Series in March. After Kim doubled on a 96-mph fastball from Bobby Miller, manager Dave Roberts said at a press conference, “Our scouts like their second baseman.”

James Naile, RHP, Kia Tigers
Kyle Hart, LHP, NC Dinos
Charlie Barnes, LHP, Lotte Giants
Enmanuel De Jesus, LHP, Kiwoom Heroes
Aaron Wilkerson, RHP, Lotte Giants

One pitcher from this group -- maybe more -- could become this year’s Erick Fedde.

Fedde made an impactful return to MLB in 2024 after starring for the Dinos in 2023. Fedde posted a 5.97 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 180 1/3 innings in KBO, which translated into a two-year, $15 million free-agent contract with the Chicago White Sox. (He was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals at the Trade Deadline and posted a 3.30 ERA between the teams.)

KBO was considerably more hitter-friendly in 2024, which makes the performances of Naile, Hart, Barnes, De Jesus and Wilkerson all the more impressive. In the coming weeks, all are expected to evaluate the possibility of remaining with their KBO clubs or returning to MLB.

Naile recently earned the victory for the Kia Tigers in the penultimate game of their triumphant Korean Series against the Samsung Lions. Naile, 31, appeared in 17 games as a reliever for the Cardinals between the ’22 and ’23 seasons. He thrived as a starter in Korea this season, leading KBO in ERA while maintaining a 3.94 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Hart led qualifying KBO starters in WHIP, while Barnes leveraged his two different sliders into one of the top strikeout rates in the league. Barnes, 29, has increased his fastball velocity while throwing more than 500 innings for the Lotte Giants over the past three seasons.