Shōta Imanaga is reportedly signing a deal with the Chicago Cubs, according to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman. The Japanese left-hander spent the last eight seasons with the Yokohama DeNa BayStars.
While the signing isn’t completely official, as Imanaga will go through a physical Wednesday, his posting period to finalize a deal ends Thursday.
The 30-year-old southpaw is a two-time Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star and won the 2023 Central League strikeout crown. Imanaga appeared in 24 games during the 2023 campaign, including tossing 188 strikeouts in only 159 innings.
Shōta Imanaga fits nicely in the Cubs’ expected rotation of Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Kyle Hendricks and Jordan Wicks.
Steele broke out in 2023, resulting in his first-career All-Star game and fifth place in the National League Cy Young voting. The left-hander boasted career-bests in ERA, innings, strikeouts, while shrinking his BB/9 to 1.9.
Chicago’s rotation is solid, especially with Taillon’s late-season ascent and Hendricks’ return to success in 2023. Additionally, multiple high-end pitching prospects — MLB’s No. 29 prospect Cade Horton and MLB’s No. 86 Ben Brown — could experience their baseball debuts in 2024.
Imanaga’s the first major move for Chicago, who made headlines in the beginning of the off-season. The Cubs signed former Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell to a record-breaking five-year, $40 million deal on Nov. 6.
Since then, Chicago has fallen short on multiple top free agents, and needed to make a splash after a successful bounce-back 2023 season. The Cubs placed second in the National League Central, and narrowly missed the playoffs.
The team still needs to make more splashes to remain competitive in the NL Central. Cody Bellinger returned to his MVP form with Chicago last season, but opted out to become a free agent.
In addition, the Cubs are linked to signing free agents Rhys Hoskins and Matt Chapman.
Hoskins missed the entire 2023 season due to a spring training ACL tear in late March, but has experienced success in the big leagues. Hoskins has incredible power in his right-handed bat — smashing 30+ home runs in 2018 and 2022.
Chapman is a career above-average hitter, but provides most of his value in the field. He is a four-time Gold Glove Winner at third base, including back-to-back Platinum Gold Glove Awards in 2018 and 2019.
Chapman, alongside Gold Glove Winners Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner, would make Chicago’s infield defense elite.
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