"Right-hander Takahiro Norimoto of the Rakuten Eagles in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball is planning to exercise his international free agent rights and gauge interest from both MLB and NPB teams this winter, per a report from Yahoo Japan ( hat tip to Yakyu Cosmopolitan). He's hired the Wasserman agency to represent him in talks with major league teams, per the report."
"The right-hander is coming off a nice year with the Eagles, having pitched to a 3.02 ERA with 16 saves, four holds and only two blown saves. His 17.2% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate don't exactly stand out, though Norimoto has still shown the ability to run his heater up in the 97 mph range since moving to the bullpen last season. He kept nearly 50% of his opponents' batted balls on the ground this past season as well."
Takahiro Norimoto will exercise his international free agent rights this winter and has hired the Wasserman agency to pursue interest from MLB and NPB clubs. The 34-year-old right-hander moved to the bullpen in 2024 after a long, successful run as a starter and has served as the Rakuten Eagles' closer the past two seasons. He posted a 3.02 ERA with 16 saves, four holds and two blown saves while touching 97 mph, with a 17.2% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and nearly 50% ground-ball rate. Across 1,838 NPB innings he owns a 3.12 ERA, 120 wins, 48 saves and a career ~24% strikeout rate. He is exempt from MLB international bonus pools and the posting system, allowing direct negotiation with any club.
Read at MLB Trade Rumors
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