Astros finalize Tatsuya Imai signing with entirely predictable roster move

Eric Cole

South Korea v Japan - Asia Professional Baseball Championship Final / Gene Wang - Capture At Media/GettyImages

The Houston Astros shocked, well, pretty much everyone after they landed Tatsuya Imai on a three-year deal. Long thought to be poised to get a nine figure deal from one of the big market teams, Imai instead bet on himself with a short-term deal when the megadeal he wanted didn't materialize (for now). The Astros were happy to step in and offer the opt-out laden contract he wanted and the upset was complete.

We already knew the terms of Imai's deal and that it was a done deal, but what wasn't know was what roster move the Astros would make to make room for him. That question has now also been answered as the team announced the Imai signing while revealing that Kaleb Ort was designated for assignment.

Astros make Tatsuya Imai's addition official at the expense of Kaleb Ort's roster spot

Obviously someone had to go to make way for Imai and it was always likely to be an arm. The Astros entered the offseason with a number of players that weren't likely to stick around, but most of them are already gone and Houston has been unable to close the deal on a trade with the others so far.

Instead, it is Ort that gets the axe from the 40-man roster which is perfectly defensible. While Ort did show real promise in 2024 after getting called up by the Astros, but the good times did not last as he only managed a 4.89 ERA in 49 appearances before elbow troubles ended his season. Based on this move, one could easily assume that Ort's arm is still a bit of a question mark.

As for the fun part of this news, Imai is slated to have his introductory press conference at Daikin Park on Monday where we should get more insights from Dana Brown as to his thought process before and after the move as well as Imai's take on his free agency and new home. In short, this story is far from over, but the paperwork locking in the signing is officially done.

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.