MLB Team Offers Contract to Free Agent Relief Pitcher Takahiro Norimoto
Free agent relief pitcher Takahiro Norimoto has received an offer from a major league club, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The 35-year-old right-hander is considering a move to the United States, but is not yet committed. He is also weighing offers from clubs in Japan, where he has played for 13 seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Norimoto has been a starter for most of his career, but has transitioned into the Eagles' closer over the past two years. He has a 48-53 record in save opportunities and a 3.46 earned run average in 2024. He is coming off a 3.02 ERA across 56 2/3 innings last season.
Despite his decent numbers, Norimoto is not a power pitcher. He has not recorded a strikeout rate above 20% in any of the past four seasons. Last year, he fanned just 17.2% of batters faced, with an 8.4% walk rate. FanGraphs describes him as a pitcher who sits around 92 MPH on his fastball and features an above-average splitter as his best secondary pitch. He is projected as a middle reliever or depth arm at the major league level.
It is unlikely that Norimoto will command more than a one-year contract in the MLB. He may be exploring major league interest as a leverage play in negotiations for potentially bigger money in Japan. Norimoto has nine-plus seasons of service time in his home country, making him an unrestricted free agent who can sign with any club in NPB or a foreign league. An MLB team would not owe the Eagles a posting fee.
Feinsand notes that Norimoto is expected to make a decision about his future in the next few days.
