ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Cubs were not certain if Shota Imanaga was going to agree to the one-year offer on the table last month or take his chances in free agency. As Chicago’s front office began its search for arms on multiple fronts, it was a real possibility that the lefty would opt for the latter.
Ultimately, Imanaga accepted the $22.025 million qualifying offer on Nov. 18, filling a vacancy in the rotation temporarily created by a series of decisions to decline options in his original contract. Sitting in his suite at the Signia by Hilton Orlando on Monday evening, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer shot down the idea that his front office was caught off-guard by Imanaga’s decision to take the deal.
“We weren’t blindsided at all,” Hoyer said.
The ripple effect was that the Cubs’ search for rotation reinforcements has now been reduced to finding one additional impact arm, while looking at depth options behind the main cast. At the same time, the North Siders are also keeping their eye on the relief market and are not ruling out pursuing late-inning options via multi-year deals.
Adding to the rotation has been a project for the Cubs dating back to the Trade Deadline last season, when the team was linked to high-profile names like Joe Ryan, MacKenzie Gore, Sandy Alcantara and Edwin Cabrera. This winter, those names are still floating out there, while the free-agent market features the likes of Michael King, Ranger Suárez, Framber Valdez, Zac Gallen and Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai.
The Cubs were looking at free-agent righty Dylan Cease before he inked a seven-year, $210 million deal with the Blue Jays. Chicago has interest in Imai and King, and has been linked to Suárez and Gallen in various reports.
There was a belief earlier this winter that the Cubs would try to land two starters, but Imanaga’s new deal altered the situation.
“We didn’t know if he was going to be back,” Hoyer said. “So, it gave us another good starting pitcher. I guess that gave us some clarity as far as the rotation. It gave us some clarity as far as available dollars. We knew going in there was a possibility that that could happen. And it’s a good thing. We have a really good pitcher like Shota back, and we’re excited about it.”
Overall, the 32-year-old Imanaga posted a 3.73 ERA in 25 starts, but he surrendered 31 home runs in 144 2/3 innings, including 20 in his last dozen outings. The lefty dealt with a hamstring injury in May that had a lasting impact on his delivery and velocity -- issues he tried to address in-season with mixed results.
The goal now is to try to get Imanaga closer to his '24 form, when he was an All-Star and garnered down-ballot votes for both the National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards. Since agreeing to the QO, Imanaga has already been mapping out plans for the winter and Spring Training with pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and his staff.
“We’re definitely getting a super motivated pitcher back,” Hoyer said. “He didn’t like the way the season ended.”
The Cubs’ current rotation includes Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Cade Horton at the top, followed by righty Colin Rea as a swing-man option. Justin Steele could be back from left elbow surgery by May, barring any setbacks, while Javier Assad, Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks offer more depth for the rotation or bullpen.
Hoyer said the Cubs would not rule out trying to add more arms with the ability to start (similar to Rea), but that is likely the extent of the rotation search. In the bullpen, however, Chicago has multiple holes to fill, even after signing righty Phil Maton with a two-year, $14.5 million contract.
While Hoyer’s preference is to build a bullpen via smaller moves, he is not ruling out bigger-ticket additions this winter. Robert Suarez is among the higher-ranked closer types in this offseason’s free-agent class.
The Cubs are hoping the conversations held at these Meetings help build momentum to some deals.
“We have a lot of energy and we have a real focus in a lot of areas,” Hoyer said. “I think it’ll lead to activity -- I can’t tell you when. That’s my honest thing. We could have an active December. We could have an active January. I don’t know.”