Potential Cardinals' target Shota Imanaga will reportedly be posted this offseason

There is a wide variety of names that the St. Louis Cardinals may target this offseason, but one that they have officially scouted, Shota Imanaga, will indeed be posted this offseason, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

While most of MLB's attention has been on fellow Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto's free agency this offseason, Imanaga has quietly gained traction among various MLB teams as another option this winter, but the question still remained whether he would be posted this winter or not. It appears that he will indeed be available this winter.

In recent weeks, the starting pitching market for this offseason has become even muddier with Shohei Ohtani's UCL injury, Julio Urias' legal issues, and the struggles of Lucas Giolito since the trade deadline. This is huge news for the Cardinals that another quality arm will be available on the market.

In 20 games so far in the JPCL and JPEL, Imanaga has a 2.57 ERA and 10.5 SO/9 over 133.1 innings of work this year. He will be 30 years old going into 2024, but now has a long track record of success in Japan and will command far less than Yamamoto on the market.

You may remember Imanaga from the championship game of the World Baseball Classic, as he held Team USA to one run on four hits in two innings as he got the start in that game. His arsenal is comprised of a fastball, cutter, changeup, curveball, and slider, and the hope is that his swing-and-miss stuff would translate to the Major League level.

Even if the Cardinals did not end up signing Imanaga, his presence on the market helps the Cardinals have a variety of options to pursue, and other arms for teams looking for pitching this offseason to target. The larger the pool of pitchers gets, the better the odds are for the Cardinals to grab multiple arms that they need this offseason.