White Sox Interested In Hiromi Itoh

The White Sox are known to be seeking rotation upgrades this winter, and they’ve identified Japanese right-hander Hiromi Itoh as one of their targets. According to Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com, the Sox sent scouts to watch Itoh and his countryman Kaima Taira in August and September, and they’re expected to be among Itoh’s suitors in free agency. Chicago’s interest in Taira was previously reported. Itoh, Taira, and infielder Teruaki Sato were officially posted by their respective NPB teams on November 1. Ordinarily, they would have had 45 days to negotiate a contract with MLB clubs, but the looming lockout is throwing a wrench in those plans. The day after their postings, it was reported that their negotiating window would not pause in the event of a lockout, so their 45-day window is effectively reduced to just 30 days. Itoh, Taira, and Sato now have a little more than two weeks to sign with MLB clubs. If they do not, they’ll return to NPB for 2027. Among the two starters in that trio, Itoh isn’t as flashy as Taira but should still procure a big league deal. He has a 2.91 earned run average and 902 career strikeouts in just over 1,000 innings for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. In 2025, he won the Sawamura Award, the NPB equivalent of the Cy Young award. Itoh has also shown excellent control, posting walk rates of 5.5% or lower in each of the last three seasons for the Fighters. In terms of stuff, the 5’9″, 180-pound Itoh sits in the low-90s but has good vertical break and high spin on his four-seamer. He’s been noted for using as many as ten unique pitches, including a splitter, sinker, sweeper, curveball, and changeup. Itoh’s undersized physique and finesse-over-power approach might make him more of a back-end starter in the Majors. We at MLBTR rank him at No. 36 on our Top 50 Free Agents list and expect him to earn a two-year, $20MM guarantee. Posting fees for NPB players amount to 20% of the first $25MM, so if Itoh matches that projection, $4MM would be paid to the Fighters, bringing the total outlay to $24MM. General manager Chris Getz has indicated that hard-throwing reliever Grant Taylor will work as a starter going forward. Taylor stands alongside breakout righty Sean Burke, Davis Martin, Anthony Kay, and veteran Luis Castillo in the projected 2027 rotation. It’s a pretty inexperienced group outside of Castillo, and it’s also lacking in star power on the front end. Itoh wouldn’t move the needle there, but he could be an improvement over Noah Schultz, David Sandlin, and Drew Thorpe as far as back-end/depth types go. The White Sox are currently projected for $108.5MM in cash payroll for 2027, as noted in MLBTR’s Payroll Tracker. That’s slightly higher than last year’s figure, but there should be room for further spending in the wake of the team’s surprise playoff appearance. Granted, the Sox have never given out a contract worth more than $75MM (Andrew Benintendi in the 2022-23 offseason). On the other hand, they have just one guaranteed contract on the books for 2028 (Castillo) and zero for 2029 onward. So far, the Sox are involved in the markets for Itoh, Taira, and right-hander Dustin May. They also figure to be scouting the trade market, which could feature Reid Detmers, Drew Rasmussen, and others. The payroll space is there to add a back-end guy like Itoh for a modest salary and, theoretically, even an ace like Tarik Skubal, though the team reportedly isn’t involved in his market. Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images