Tatsuya Imai should opt out of Astros deal for this reason everybody least expected

January 2 was supposed to be a big day for the Houston Astros this season. That is the day the team announced the signing of Japanese star pitcher Tatsuya Imai to a 3-year, $54M contract. Imai was to be the answer to the loss of Framber Valdez and the second star starter behind Hunter Brown.

Little has gone the way either Imai or the Astros expected since.

After blazing through Spring Training, Imai's first start of the season on March 29 started off pretty close to expected. He struck out 4 of the first 8 batters he faced and was staked to a 4-0 lead after 2 innings against the Los Angeles Angels. Imai was going to cruise to his first MLB victory.

Then came the third inning. He wouldn't make it out.

Two walks, two singles and a double later the game was tied at 4 and Imai was being replaced after 2.2 IP. It was a shocking failure for a pitcher who was virtually untouchable all spring.

Imai seemingly righted the ship in his next start, punching out 9 over 5.2 innings scoreless against the A's in an 11-0 whitewashing. He was removed after a pair of two-out walks in the sixth, reaching 94 pitches and seeming to tire.

Then the wheels fell off.

Imai couldn't get 2 outs in his third start of the season, once again plagued by an inability to throw strikes. He faced 7 batters, walking 4 and hitting another. He allowed one hit and got one out. He was charged with 3 ER in what became a 9-6 loss to the Mariners. He would go on the IL following this start with arm fatigue.

How did a Japanese All-Star who walked a career low 2.5 batters per nine suddenly become unable to throw strikes?

We would then learn about his difficulty with the meal schedule, with acclimating to American culture, with multiple different translators, issues with mounds, issues with the baseball, and more. Imai was a fish out of water and even the diamond didn't help him feel comfortable.

After returning from the IL May12, Imai made 12 more starts. In 6 of them, he failed to go 5 innings. In 3 of them, he failed to get 5 outs. After his July 27 debacle in which he recorded just two outs and walked 4, he was banished to the bullpen. He has made only 4 appearances since.

Imai's contract of 3 years and $54M looks like a massive blunder, and it came with 2 caveats. Imai has two opt-out options after each of the first two seasons.

What would make a player struggling so badly want to opt out of $18M for each of the next two seasons?

Turns out, Imai may have two reasons.

The first reason is that he is clearly uncomfortable in the US, and seems to feel isolated. He struggles to relate to teammates who primarily speak two different languages from his own. He is the only Japanese player on the team. It doesn't seem the team did much to help get him acclimated, expecting baseball to take care of itself in that regard. He is obviously unhappy. It makes zero sense that he would want to continue to make himself unhappy by staying.

The second reason, however, is even bigger.

The strained labor relations between MLB and the MLBPA as they work toward a new CBA has nearly everyone expecting a protracted lockout once the current CBA expires December 2. The two sides are not close and the union has ramped up the rhetoric to maximum levels against the salary cap system the owners are insisting upon.

Players will not be paid during a lockout. If the lockout eats up portions of the season, the money players would have earned is lost.

Imai doesn't have to sit on the sidelines. He can opt out of his contract and go back to Japan. He can sign a healthy contract, be back home, be happy, enjoy baseball again. He can be back on his preferred schedule pitching once a week. He can be on the mounds and using the baseballs he prefers. He can eat at the right times and in the right locations. He will no longer need a translator.

He can simply go back to being the All-Star pitcher he was, in the place and league where he was happy, never to deal with the scrutiny of every single thing in his life again.

The looming lockout just may save the Houston Astros $36M. As badly as his first season in MLB has gone, Imai would be crazy to stay.

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