Kodai Senga has agreed to a five-year, $75 million contract with the New York Mets, multiple sources confirmed on Saturday. The 29-year-old player recently became a free agent after spending 11 seasons with the Nippon Professional Baseball team Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Nicknamed “the Ghost Fork” due to his split-fingered fastball that seems to disappear before reaching the plate, Senga went 104-51 with a 2.42 ERA in 1,340⅔ innings for the Hawks. During his time in the NPB, Senga was named an NPB All-Star on three occasions and won the Japanese Series five times.
Senga’s arrival in New York will greatly assist the Mets to fill the gaps in their rotation. Other free agents who the Mets also signed to this end include American League Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, left-handed pitcher Jose Quintana, and reliever David Robertson. In addition, the team also re-signed center fielder Brandon Nimmo to an eight-year, $162 million contract.
Currently, the Mets’ payroll is worth around $345 million. If this sum holds, the Mets’ could be due to pay a luxury-tax penalty; a first in the MLB.
