Japanese star Tatsuya Imai makes strong statement against signing with Dodgers

Star Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai would perfectly fit in with the Giants.The right-handed ace of the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball, who recently was posted and has until Jan. 2 to sign with an MLB team, declared that he has no interest in joining San Francisco’s archrival Los Angeles Dodgers, in a recent interview with former big-league pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka on the “Hodo Station” show.“Of course, I’d enjoy playing alongside [Shohei] Ohtani, [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto, and [Rki] Sasaki, but winning against a team like that and becoming a world champion would be the most valuable thing in my life,” Imai told Matsuzaka (h/t MLB.com’s Michael Clair and Ayako Oikawa). “If anything, I’d rather take them down.”That mentality must intrigue Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey.Imai, 27, is coming off a dominant season in which he posted a 1.92 ERA and 178 strikeouts over 163 2/3 innings. He would be an enticing addition to any team, but it would be fascinating to see Imai enter the big leagues with San Francisco.Regardless of where Imai lands,...