Clock is officially ticking for SF Giants on pair of Japanese pitchers they've already shown interest in

Pretty much every single offseason the SF Giants are connected to an exciting pitcher from Japan. Whether it’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shota Imanaga back when he was posted, or Tatsuya Imai last offseason there’s pretty much always speculation of reporting linking San Francisco to them.

That’s why it comes as no shock that the Giants are yet again being linked to a few Japanese arms with Hiromi Itoh and Kaima Taira both being posted by their respective NPB teams. MLB has also decided that the window for the Japanese players who were posted will end on December 1 so there will not be an extension beyond the lockout.

It’s already been reported by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that the Giants have scouted both Itoh and Taira. Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic also reported months ago that San Francisco is expected to pursue Itoh, now the question is whether they will actually land him.

The typical story with these NPB pitchers has been that the Giants expect interest or the national media names them as an obvious fit and then they end up signing with another team, typically the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants have been burned before, but given their acute need for pitching they really have no other choice than to throw their hat in the ring.

Itoh is coming off a 2026 season for the Nippon Ham Fighters in which he had a 3.18 ERA in 26 starts. He had 159 strikeouts in 173 innings pitched and walked just 34 which maybe be a big reason why the Giants have interest because they need more pitchers who can find the strike zone reliably.

As for Taira, he’s a 27-year-old who had an impressive 1.36 ERA in 23 starts for the Seibu Lions. He pitched 146 innings and struck out 141 while walking 45. He’s short and compact and is somewhat reminiscent of Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson in build as he is 5-foot-8 and weighs roughly 210 pounds.

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Obviously, with any of these pitchers it’s a little bit of a roll of the dice. Sometimes there are sure things like Yamamoto and they get a huge deal, but last offseason there were predictions that Imai would get a huge contract but he ended up signing a three-year, $54 million deal with the Houston Astros and had a shaky 4.93 ERA on the season.

The market will determine how sure MLB teams are of Itoh and Taira but expect more rumors connecting them to the Giants. San Francisco will have to act quick because teams have to ink them to a deal before the lockout so the clock is ticking. 

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