Astros may lose Tatsuya Imai way earlier than expected
The contract has a key uncertainty.
Astros may lose Tatsuya Imai way earlier than expected originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Tatsuya Imai may have expected more money when he came to MLB.
It's not that his three year, $54 million contract with the Houston Astros wasn't a bad payday. But he had a case to be given much more. If he'd like, he may get another opportunity to get the big money sooner rather than later.
MLB Trade Rumors' Darragh McDonald pointed out in a new article that Imai's deal has an opt-out available to him after this season. "Some, including us, thought that a team would bet on the upside," McDonald wrote. "MLBTR predicted Imai to land a six-year deal worth $150MM.
It seems no club was willing to go to that length, at least not yet. Imai signed a three-year, $54MM deal with the Astros. Opt-outs after each season give him a chance to return to free agency, ideally with a track record of success as a major league starter.