MLB Rumors: Kodai Senga Has Met With 3 Top Suitors

The chase for Japanese pitching sensation Kodai Senga is really heating up. According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, "it seems like a quarter of the league, if not more, has already been in touch." 

And while some teams, like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have "made contact with his representatives," three teams have already taken it a step further, and actually met with the most intriguing free agent on the market. 

Feinsand says the three teams to watch in the Senga sweepstakes, that have already sat down with him, are the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers and San Diego Padres.

Let's break these contenders down:

San Francisco Giants

The Giants are said to "have a lot of interest among all these teams," according to Feinsand. They fit Senga's stated prerequisites of being a big market, and, depending on what else they do this offseason (Aaron Judge, anyone?), being a team that's ready to win.

Texas Rangers

This is a team that's seen around baseball as the team "that's going to spend on pitching," per Feinsand. They are heavily tied already to Carlos Rodon, and were thought earlier in the offseason to be a Jacob deGrom suitor. They'd like to add two premium starters before Opening Day. Also, Yu Darvish, who's been described as Senga's mentor, made his MLB debut with Texas. 

San Diego Padres

Senga has a lot of connections here, having played with Padres pitchers Nick Martinez and Robert Suarez in Japan. And then, of course, there's the Yu Darvish factor, in the flesh.

No doubt some other teams will try to get in on it as well, such as the Chicago Cubs, who also have a history with Darvish who loved the city and his time there. The Seattle Mariners have a history with a Japanese legend, Ichiro, so perhaps that could hold some water with Senga. 

His journey this offseason will be very interesting to follow.