rewrite this title Tatsuya Imai-Yankees whispers picking up with clock ticking on Japanese ace

The top Japanese free-agent pitcher doesn’t want to be a Dodger and that could be a good development for the Yankees.

The Yankees are interested in signing righty Tatsuya Imai, the Post has reported, and there have been recent reports linking the two parties ahead of his Jan. 2 signing deadline.

Former Mets general manager Steve Phillips recently said on MLB Network Radio that teams are in the $150-180 million range with offers, and he said the Yankees may be willing to go to pricey lengths.

“The reports are right now are that he Yankees are aggressively in the market for a starter and they’re in a position to either get Imai or Michael King,” Phillips said.

“… It does sound like they may be blowing up the budget a little bit to land one more starting pitcher, in addition to still needing to get (Cody) Bellinger and/or somebody else for their outfield.”

Despite having three long-term pitching contracts on their books, the Yankees could use an arm since there are questions about when three starters will be ready.

Gerrit Cole is likely to miss Opening Day in his return from Tommy John surgery, Carlos Rodon underwent an elbow scope that will have him on the injured list to start the season and Clarke Schmidt could be out for roughly half of the season if not longer after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The question is to what lengths they are willing to go to secure an additional arm to join the projected rotation of Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Luis Gil, and their indication in Imai — and seemingly to a lesser extent King — show they may be willing to make another big investment.

Imai, 27, is a fascinating target with his upper-90s fastball and slider combination.

He’s posted a 2.14 ERA spanning 49 starts over the last two years for the Seibu Lions in the Japan Pacific League, while tallying 365 strikeouts in 337 innings.

The Cubs and Phillies are also among the interested teams and Imai could meet with suitors this week, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Yankees previously pursued Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, but lost all three to the Angels (Ohtani) and Dodgers (Yamamoto, Sasaki).

They offered Yamomoto $300 million, which fell short of the $325 million ponied up by the Dodgers and Mets.

The Dodgers seemingly won’t be signing Imai, though, with the righty stating he would rather take them down and even recently telling a Japanese outlet: “They don’t need me.”

The Yankees have also been linked to King, their former starter/reliever whom they traded to San Diego in the Juan Soto deal, who is looking for his first big payday.

“It’s a little bit of a complication,” Philips said of the Yankees’ pitching situation, “because you got one guy who has never pitched over here that you’re going to have to assimilate into your roster, into Major League Baseball, but they’ve done that before and they’ve done that successfully in New York.

“On the other hand, Michael King, one of their former guys, has had a bit of an injury history here of late. The question is: How much is there with that? So, the Yankees sort of caught in between.”

If the Yankees spend big on a starter, it could limit their ability to retain Bellinger or acquire another high-priced bat to replace him should he leave.

Hal Steinbrenner has given indication he’s not opening the wallet for a spending spree this winter.

Phillips noted that the Yankees’ maneuverings will be intriguing to watch.

“It’s going to be interesting with what the Yankees do because if they lose Bellinger, their pivot is not all that clear. It doesn’t seem to me to be realistic that if they don’t get Bellinger, they’re going to pivot to the player some people are still projecting at $400 million — I don’t think he is — … in Kyle Tucker,” Phillips said. “They’re in on the pitcher, King or Imai, they’re in on Bellinger.

“What do they do if they don’t get any of those three?”