The Mets have made a big splash, adding Japanese right-handed pitcher Kodai Senga.
The deal is for five years, $75 million and pending a physical, as first reported by SNY's Andy Martino.
After New York landed Brandon Nimmo, the team continued to set its sights on Senga, with Martino reporting the front office wanted him badly.
The Japanese star will sit in the middle of the rotation, but has top of the rotation upside if he can put it all together.
Senga comes to New York following an illustrious career in Nippon Professional Baseball, where he was a three-time All-Star, five-time Japan Series champion, two-time Gold Glove winner and two-time Pacific League strikeout leader.
The right-hander features a four-pitch arsenal, including a fastball that averages around 96 mph but has reached triple digits, a cutter, slider, and his splitter, which is his best strikeout pitch.
He missed some time in 2021 due to elbow soreness and COVID, and as league executives told SNY contributor John Harper, it's hard to know exactly how Senga will transition to MLB.
"Here’s the thing," said one exec, “you really never know until you see the guy face major league hitters on a consistent basis. Some pitchers adjust better than others. Senga certainly has the potential for the kind of dominance you saw from [Masahiro] Tanaka that first year with the Yankees before he hurt his elbow."
"In Japan he relied on hitters chasing his splitter down, out of the strike zone, because a lot of them had to cheat to get to his velocity," said a second exec. "He’ll probably have a tougher time getting big league hitters to do that.
"He also got away with more hangers with his slider than he’ll get away with over here. His breaking stuff will need to improve if he’s going to be an effective starter. It’s hard to get deep into games against big league lineups with just the fastball and splitter."
With the Mets adding Justin Verlander to join Max Scherzer at the top of the rotation after the departure of Jacob deGrom, Senga will slot into the middle of a staff that also includes Carlos Carrasco and the recently acquired Jose Quintana.
As things currently stand, Carrasco or Quintana could be the No. 5 starter, though David Peterson and Tylor Megill are among the team's depth options.