Chicago Cubs Win Shota Imanaga Sweepstakes, Reach Agreement With Star Japanese Pitcher
The Chicago Cubs are in agreement on a contract with free agent Japanese pitcher Shota Imanaga, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Tuesday evening.
The deal is tentative and still pending a physical, which is scheduled to take place in Chicago on Wednesday. An introductory press conference is on the books for Friday, per Nightengale.
Imanaga has taken his decision down to the wire, with his 45-day negotiating window scheduled to close at 5 p.m. on Thursday. His market developed rather slowly – maybe in part to the drawn-out free agencies of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto before they both landed with the Los Angeles Dodgers – and has really only heated up over the past few weeks.
The Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels and New York Mets were among the other teams reportedly pursuing Imanaga this winter.
MLB Network insider Jon Morosi is reporting that Imanaga’s multi-year contract will be worth roughly $15 million annually.
The Cubs will also have to pay Imanaga's Nippon Professional Baseball club, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, as posting fee. If Imanaga were to secure a six-year, $90 million contract, for example, Chicago would be on the hook for an additional $15.4 million.
Imanaga spent the last eight seasons in NPB, and he pitched for Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic in March 2023. Imanaga started the championship game against Team USA, picking up the win after tossing 2.0 innings and allowing one earned run.
The southpaw went 7-5 with a 2.66 ERA, 1.019 WHIP and 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 24 appearances with the BayStars last season. Over the course of his professional career – which dates back to 2016 – Imanaga is 74-55 with a 2.96 ERA, 1.076 WHIP and 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
The 5-foot-10, 176-pound lefty has a low-90s fastball, cutter, curveball, splitter and slider in his repertoire.
Imanaga is the first free agent the Cubs have signed so far this offseason, and he helps round out an intriguing rotation in Chicago.
Left-hander Justin Steele emerged as an All-Star in 2023, while veterans Jameson Taillon and Kyle Hendricks ate up plenty of innings in their own right. But with Drew Smyly moving into the bullpen and Marcus Stroman hitting free agency, the Cubs needed another arm in the mix.
With Imanaga filling that need, the fifth and final rotation spot could go to Jordan Wicks, Javier Assad or another new addition from the outside. Either way, new manager Craig Counsell now has options as he tries to end Chicago's three-year playoff drought.
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