00:00You know who is needed in the city of Houston?
00:03Who?
00:03Tatsuya Imai, who had his introductory press conference.
00:06Oh, yes, he is.
00:07If for no other reason than he knows exactly what time it is.
00:10There's nothing that the city of Houston loves more than a person that wants to be in the city of Houston.
00:15If you don't want to be here, you can get gone.
00:16We don't care about it.
00:17But Tatsuya Imai, he came with this energy.
00:19Remember, a Japanese-born player, he's actually going to be, I think, the first Japanese player
00:26that did not spend time somewhere else in the MLB before playing for your Houston Astros.
00:30And he's coming with the appropriate energy, whether it was Scott Boris instructed.
00:34He does not speak much English, but he decided to break it out at the start of his intro press conference.
00:38Okay, Tatsuya, here's your opportunity to say a few words.
00:41Hey.
00:43What's up, H-Sean?
00:46I'm Tatsuya Imai.
00:48I'm ready to chase a world championship.
00:52Let's go, Houston.
00:54Thank you so much.
00:57That is so...
00:58Now, of course, that wasn't the end of the press conference.
01:01Other things happened.
01:02I would have loved it.
01:03It's like, all right, we're done here.
01:04Thanks for coming out.
01:05That's great.
01:06I absolutely love...
01:08Obviously, I love what he is as a player.
01:11He's a dude with a lot of pitches in his arsenal.
01:14And there's some of them that are better than others.
01:16But he feels like he is well-situated to come into the Houston Astros ecosystem and then
01:22sit him down and make this thing work.
01:24But he is big on winning.
01:26That was one of the things that was very clear.
01:28He said...
01:28I mean, he said it there.
01:29He wants to win championships.
01:31And I love that attitude.
01:34He said he's a personality hire.
01:36And it feels like you need...
01:37You're in need of that, especially in the rotation as it's currently situated.
01:40You say he's a personality hire.
01:42I think that's the added bonus, so to speak.
01:47The added value, however it is.
01:49But I think it was a factor.
01:50I think it was absolutely...
01:51Here's how I read it.
01:52And maybe I'm reading too much into it.
01:55He's basically replacing Frambois Valdez.
01:59Basically.
02:00Okay.
02:01Right?
02:01Say more.
02:02So, let's...
02:03Don't give him the bars.
02:06Figgy's in.
02:06Figgy's in.
02:07I can tell.
02:08I can feel it.
02:08We got our ace right here.
02:10So, he's basically replacing Frambois Valdez.
02:13And compare the vibe and the feelings and the embracing of Houston and everything else
02:20that was perceived, at least, of Frambois with the immediate perception of ImaĆ.
02:26It's polar opposites.
02:29And I think that alone, to your point, is why people are going to...
02:32And we all are.
02:33You know, why people are going to immediately be jumping into,
02:36all right, this is a guy that gets it.
02:38That gets H-Town.
02:39That gets the championship mentality.
02:41He talked about it.
02:42You'll hear him talking about it.
02:44Not only that, but he's a guy that has...
02:46He's a high strikeout pitcher, at least, you know, what he's been.
02:50Multiple pitches.
02:51Classic Japanese pitcher.
02:52Yep.
02:53Durable.
02:54Again, a classic trait of Japanese.
02:55God bless.
02:56Yeah.
02:56Now, if you start seeing ImaĆ show up on injury reports, then we know that it's something
03:01in the water.
03:02It's something in the water at that point.
03:04Because you're right, he has been durable.
03:05Elbow tightness.
03:06Shoulder tight.
03:07No.
03:07No, he's durable.
03:08That's another classic, you know, characteristic of a Japanese pitcher.
03:11So, I think the combination of what left and how he got here makes it that much more
03:17important.
03:18I mean, to me, that's an important part of this.
03:20The second most important part for me is what we just talked about.
03:23I mean, the type of pitcher he is and durability and strikeouts and fits right into what the
03:27Astros are.
03:28And then there's this.
03:29Let's just track from when he got wheels down in Houston to today.
03:35Oh, I love this.
03:36To this moment.
03:36He hasn't seen Johnny Dang yet.
03:38And yes, you're right, 8-3-2.
03:40It would have been better if he had said, what it do, H-Town.
03:42We will cut him a little slack on that one.
03:44But from the time he went wheels down, Texans game, H is up, sitting there.
03:49Oh, yeah.
03:49He's been chugging up the dude.
03:50He's been giving you the H.
03:52The H is all, I was going to say, weak.
03:55He's only been here a few days.
03:57Obviously, press conference, which was terrific.
04:00And then he went to switch clothes real quick.
04:01And then he went to courtside, Rockets, was like two feet away from Durant when he busted
04:07that last three.
04:08I mean, this has been better.
04:10That's a hell of a week for him.
04:11Better than you could have drawn it out.
04:13Yeah.
04:14The signing might have been worth it before he even hits the mound.
04:17If you just send him to all the Houston games, make sure they win them.
04:19Yeah.
04:20That's a hell of a vacation, too, man.
04:22Go become a charm.
04:23Hey, we're going to send you to Pittsburgh.
04:24It's a little cold.
04:25Don't worry about it.
04:25We'll get you a coat.
04:26We're going to win.
04:27But I do love, the personality is not nothing here.
04:32And I mention those things because you look at what the, you know, at least the known fields
04:38on the rotation, at least the way I'm looking at it.
04:41Hunter Brown, pretty, you know, demure dude.
04:44Imae, who seems like he has a lot of personality.
04:47Javier Burroughs.
04:48Like, it feels like you need that guy, the personality, the emotion, that feeling.
04:52And it seems like he brings things that he seems.
04:55The only thing that I question is, you know, how much does that come through a translator
04:59at this point?
05:00But he made mention during his intro press conference that he already got a, he already
05:06got like a message from, oh, who was it again?
05:08And I forget who already hit him up on Instagram.
05:12Like, here's my number.
05:13You know, if you need anything, let me know.
05:15Yes, Josh Hader.
05:16So he's already finding the inroads.
05:18If he can find a way to be a part of this, I think clubhouse culture is one of those things
05:22that we've talked about, but we haven't really found like who's going to be some of the
05:26things that bring that jovial nature to it.
05:27I'm excited for that portion of it, but I don't think it's small that he's like, I'm
05:31coming in to win championships because the Astros have been in a little bit of a crossroads.
05:35We've acknowledged it without fully acknowledging it at times that is this going to be a team
05:39that's starting to rebuild?
05:40Is this going to be a team that retools?
05:41This is clear that at least from the top, they believe that this is, we are back in championship
05:46contention and that, you know, our friends in the desert feel the same.
05:50You are like top six, top five, top six in championship odds.
05:53And it's reasonable to see the wind total came out this morning.
05:56I didn't see it.
05:56Guess what the Astros' win total is.
05:58All right.
05:59So came out this morning.
06:00What did they win?
06:0087 games this past season?
06:02And last year, the over-under was 87 and a half.
06:05Before that, it was in the 90s.
06:0894, the way that you said it.
06:10The win total?
06:11Yeah.
06:1184 and a half.
06:13Okay.
06:13So maybe not.
06:14So you talk about crossroads.
06:16Here's the last thing that this really jumps out to me with the Astros and Imae.
06:22The inroads to Japan.
06:24The inroads to Japan.
06:25Oh, I think that's a whole nother conversation.
06:26And we'll get to it.
06:27Yeah.
06:27So let me set that aside because they actually acknowledged something that we talked about
06:31yesterday with, in terms of Dyken Park and marketing officer and et cetera.
06:36We'll get to that later.
06:37But the more important thing is you talked about the culture.
06:39He's not going to the World Baseball Classic.
06:42That's such a huge thing.
06:44He says, I'd rather go to spring training, get to know the guys, start to fit in, and
06:48get going.
06:49And that's, I was huge on that because coming over from Japan is not the easiest thing.
06:54Usually you can expect, especially pitchers, to come over and make an impact.
06:57But it's not a guarantee.
06:59And you're asking, we're slotting him into this rotation like he's going to be a guarantee.
07:03You shorten the porch on trying to make that happen when you get in quickly, you get into
07:11the car wash, you figure out what your pitch mix is with this Astros, and you give yourself
07:16an opportunity to rev up to the dude that we don't want to be.
07:19And I need you to hit the ground running.
07:21And he needs to.
07:21It's a one-year, it's essentially a one-year deal.
07:23It's a three-year deal, up to $63 million if memory serves.
07:26But there's an opt-out every year.
07:27And he's a Scott Boers client.
07:29He's trying to make money.
07:30But he's trying to win.
07:31And I think that all those things come together that if he hits the ground running, he could
07:35be great to make his money.
07:36But you can be great as an Astros team to do what you're trying to do.
07:39And I thought that that's one of the things that he represents that I really love.
07:42But there's more to talk about.
07:43Get this man a grill.
07:44That's right.
07:45Where is Johnny Dang?
07:46Where is Johnny Dang?
07:48It's one of the things that I say all the time in my life, except I don't because that'd
07:51be weird.
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