The Chicago Cubs could be without one of their best starting pitchers next season, given that Shota Imanaga declined his one-year, $15 million player option earlier this week, which was the byproduct of the Cubs declining a team option to extend Imanaga’s contract for three more seasons and $57 million.

There’s still a chance that Imanaga could return to the Cubs. He could accept the $22.05 million qualifying offer the Cubs sent his way, or he could decline that and still return to the team on a new deal. But the chances of him returning were less than they were by the end of Chicago’s 2025 campaign.

Losing Imanaga would be tough to recover from. While the 32-year-old wasn’t able to replicate his fantastic 2023 rookie season (where he went 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 29 starts), his 9-8 record and 3.73 ERA were still respectable, and suggest that he’ll be one of the more prized pitchers available on the free agency market if he makes it there.

Sep 8, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) throws against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

On the bright side, the Cubs will have plenty of replacement options available in free agency if Imanaga’s time in Chicago has indeed ended.

One potential option is 28-year-old Japanese hurler Tatsuya Imai, who is expected to be posted by his Seibu Lions NPB team this winter. And in a November 7 article, Sports Illustrated’s Will Laws and Nick Selbe predicted that Imai will end up with the Cubs.

Imai being a potential Imanaga replacement doesn’t just make sense because they’re both from Japan. Instead, Imai will likely come at an affordable price compared to MLB hurlers with similar talent, if only because he hasn’t proven himself on baseball’s biggest stage quite yet.

Not to mention that Imai (who is listed at 5’11”, 155 pounds) has a relatively similar frame compared to Imanaga, who is listed at 5’10” and 175 pounds. Some MLB teams would probably be more hesitant to give a smaller pitcher like this a multi-year deal, but the Cubs already proved that they don’t measure height that highly when deciding to allocate money to.

The Cubs have had success with several Japanese players over the years, including Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki, and Yu Darvish. Imai could be the best such player to make an impact at Wrigley Field, and could perhaps be a key component to Chicago making a deep postseason run in 2026.

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