Mets signing Japanese ace Kodai Senga to 5-year, $75 million contract, source says
Pitcher Kodai Senga #21 of Team Japan is seen after the sixth inning against Team United States during the gold medal game between Team United States and Team Japan on day fifteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Yokohama Baseball Stadium on August 07, 2021 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. Credit: Getty Images
The Mets got their guy — yep, another one.
They have agreed to a five-year, $75 million deal with Kodai Senga, a source said late Saturday night, ending their weeks-long pursuit of the Japanese righthander and bringing in their third new starting pitcher of the week.
That rounds out the Mets’ rotation, which now is composed of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Senga, Jose Quintana and Carlos Carrasco.
David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi, Elieser Hernandez and others remain as depth options or bullpen candidates, with that section of the roster still very much in flux.
After the Senga signing, once he passes a physical to make it official, the Mets’ 2023 luxury-tax payroll will be about $350 million. With penalties that will be applied for spending so much, their overall commitment will be approximately $430 million — and they still have moves to make regarding relievers and maybe a hitter.
As someone who has never pitched in the majors, Senga, who will turn 30 in January, is inherently an unknown and comes with some amount of built-in risk. But his track record in Japan was extensive and impressive. Across 11 seasons with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Nippon Professional Baseball — the highest level of baseball in Japan — Senga had a 2.59 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP and 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
An aspect of his history worth noting: His career-high innings total is 180 1⁄3, set in 2019. He passed 150 in only one other year.
Mets manager Buck Showalter was openly complimentary of Senga when he spoke Tuesday at the winter meetings in San Diego, but he did wonder about one piece of his transition to the majors: How would Senga fare pitching once every five games instead of once per week in Japan?
“It’s tough to project those guys. But a good pitcher is a good pitcher,” Showalter said. “You’re always thinking about the load of pitching every fifth day compared to the other [schedule], but they said that about some really good Japanese pitchers that came over here and did well. So he’s a good one. We’ve talked with him. And he’s impressive. You can see why they think so highly of him. I enjoyed our little talk with him.”
Senga’s agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, told reporters this offseason that Senga wanted to play in a big city and for a team ready to win immediately. The Mets check both of those boxes — and wound up giving Senga the length of contract he sought.
Showalter said Senga spent time in Manhattan during his visit with the Mets.
The Mets have committed more than $460 million to six free agents this offseason.
Brandon Nimmo leads everybody with $162 million for his eight-year deal, ahead of Edwin Diaz ($102 million), Verlander ($86.66 million), Senga, Quintana ($26 million) and David Robertson ($10 million).
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
