NPB’s Seibu Lions To Post Kaima Taira

The Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball confirmed they’ll make starter Kaima Taira available to MLB clubs via the posting system. The Lions’ general manager announced the news to Japanese media on Friday (Japanese-language link via Nikkan Sports). The posting process won’t officially open until sometime in early November. NPB players have a 45-day window to sign with a major league club. This year’s posting window is complicated by the inevitable lockout on December 1. If Taira doesn’t sign before then, the clock will pause for the duration of the work stoppage. It formalizes what MLB clubs have expected for months. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported back in September this was likely to be the case. The Lions have shown a willingness to use the posting system, as they did with Tatsuya Imai and Kona Takahashi last offseason. NPB players earn unrestricted international free agency rights after accruing nine years of service time. It therefore behooves NPB teams to allow players who express interest to be posted after year eight, as they’re still entitled to compensation from the MLB team at that point. The posting fee is proportional to the value of the contract: 20% of the first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% thereafter. The Astros sent the Lions $9.975MM when they signed Imai to a $54MM deal last offseason. Takahashi didn’t find an MLB deal to his liking and returned to the Lions for the 2026 season. He’ll again explore big league opportunities after reaching nine years of service time, and the Lions would no longer receive any compensation if he comes to North America. While Takahashi projects as a fifth/sixth starter, Taira has a higher ceiling. The 26-year-old righty (27 next month) has a good chance to beat Imai’s deal from last winter. Those two have some parallels in their career arcs, as Taira also spent the bulk of his time in the bullpen. He worked as a starter in 2023 and moved back to the rotation this year. Taira made 23 appearances and tallied 146 innings of 1.36 ERA ball. (NPB teams have a weekly off day and thus tend to use a six-man rotation, explaining the slightly lower workload.) He struck out 24.8% of opponents against a 7.9% walk percentage. Taira had the lowest ERA and seventh-best strikeout rate among NPB pitchers with 100+ frames. He has a very unconventional build for a pitcher, listed at 5’8″ and 209 pounds. He nevertheless generates plus velocity, sitting in the mid-90s with the ability to push the heater close to triple digits. The Giants and Blue Jays are among teams known to have scouted Taira, but it stands to reason the majority of clubs have gotten eyes on him with the expectation that he’d be available this winter. View Comments (0)