The Mets were early adopters of NPB starting pitchers. Masato Yoshii was a rotation regular for the 1998 and 1999 Mets. At that point, only Hideo Nomo, Hideki Irabu and (briefly) Shigetoshi Hasegawa had started an MLB game in 35 years.

Roki Sasaki, the Japanese right-hander considered one of the most talented pitchers in the world, will be posted to MLB, the Chiba Lotte Marines announced.

Here are two things about Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Roki Sasaki’s impending move to MLB via the posting system: It sets a bad precedent. It will not instantly turn NPB into an MLB feeder system.