NEW YORK: Japanese star pitcher Kodai Senga has agreed to terms on a five-year Major League Baseball deal worth $75 million with the New York Mets, according to multiple reports on Sunday.

The 29-year-old right-hander helped the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks win five Japan Series titles from 2015-2020 and was a member of last year’s Tokyo Olympic gold medal squad.

The contract, still pending until the completion of a physical, includes a no-trade clause and an opt-out clause allowing Senga to become a free agent after the 2025 season, according to MLB’s website.

The Mets, who won 101 games last season, re-signed closing relief pitcher Edwin Diaz last month and signed American League Cy Young Award (best pitcher) winner Justin Verlander to a two-season deal for $86 million.

They have also signed leadoff batter Brandon Nimmo to an eight-year deal for $162 million and added relief pitchers David Robertson and Brooks Raley left-handed starting pitcher Jose Quintana, who would join Senga, Max Scherzer and Verlander in the Mets’ rotation.

The deals could push the Mets’ payroll above $300 million — record MLB levels.

Senga has spent 11 seasons with the Hawks with a 2.59 earned-run average over 1,089 innings. He struck out 28% of the batters he faced while walking 9% of them.

Senga struck out five US batters in two relief innings in a 2017 World Baseball Classic semi-final, including MLB stars Eric Hosmer, Andrew McCutchen, Buster Posey, Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich.

Senga had played long enough in Japan to be ruled an international free agent and thus was not subject to the posting process, in which MLB clubs would pay Japanese clubs for the right to sign a player.

AFP