Yankees, Mets could go after two available pitchers

The Yankees and Mets are, of course, both interested in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but there is some other talented pitching out of Japan on the market now, too.

Left-hander Shota Imanaga was posted for Major League clubs on Monday, according to the Kyodo News.

The 30-year-old just completed his second consecutive sub-3 ERA season, posting a 2.80 ERA in 148 innings for the Yokohama BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

Right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa was also posted on Monday, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

Uwasawa posted a 2.96 ERA in 170 innings for the Nippon-Ham Fighters this season. He turns 30 in January. The Fighters will be owed a posting/release fee if he is signed by an MLB team.

Both Imanaga and Uwasawa both have a 45-day posting window that begins Tuesday morning.

The Orix Buffaloes posted Yamamoto last week, and both the Yankees and Mets have shown interest in the 25-year-old star. This year, he won his third Eiji Sawamura Award (the Japanese version of the Cy-Young). This was also the third consecutive year he has posted a sub-2 ERA.

This year, Yamamoto put up a 1.21 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 169 strikeouts in 164 innings. He is expected to command at least $200 million in free agency.

Bridget Hyland may be reached at [email protected]