{"id":128073,"date":"2025-12-03T11:37:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T11:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=128073"},"modified":"2025-12-03T11:37:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T11:37:43","slug":"%e2%9a%a1-exclusive-breaking-trace-the-chicago-cubs-have-reportedly-received-a-message-about-tatsuya-imai-so-direct-so-impossible-to-ignore-that-insiders-say-the-front-office-went-silent-for-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=128073","title":{"rendered":"\u26a1 EXCLUSIVE BREAKING TRACE: The Chicago Cubs have reportedly received a message about Tatsuya Imai so direct, so impossible to ignore, that insiders say the front office went silent for hours. Rumors suggest this message contains a hidden ultimatum that could alter everything Chicago planned for the months ahead."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jed-hoyer-chicago-cubs.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jed-hoyer-chicago-cubs.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jed-hoyer-chicago-cubs.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/jed-hoyer-chicago-cubs.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Cubs Receive Clear Message Over Tatsuya Imai\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>(Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Chicago Cubs could be leaning heavily on their starting rotation to win games in the 2026 MLB season. As a result, Chicago could bolster their unit even more with Japanese free agent pitcher, Tatsuya Imai. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Moreover, the Cubs have one thing in their favor: Imai has no interest in heading to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Imai noted that he wants to take down the reigning back-to-back World Series champions. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cOf course, I\u2019d enjoy playing alongside [Shohei] Ohtani, [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto, and [Roki] Sasaki,\u201d Imai told Daisuke Matsuzaka during a November appearance on the show, \u201cHodo Station\u201d (h\/t <\/span>MLB.com <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">). \u201cBut winning against a team like that and becoming a world champion would be the most valuable thing in my life. If anything, I\u2019d rather take them down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With Imai looking outside the Los Angeles bubble, Marquee Sports Network\u2019s Bruce Levine urged the Cubs to do whatever it takes to get the 27-year-old. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cHere\u2019s the thing about the Chicago Cubs that we don\u2019t realize: They\u2019re a big-market team, even though people have accused them of not spending like one, and they can absorb some failures,\u201d Levine said on December 2 <\/span>during an appearance on Marquee Sports Network <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. \u201cEvery team must be able to absorb it; you can\u2019t be perfect with everything. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201c[Imai] is the best pitcher out there. He is a swing-and-miss type of guy, which they need to go along with [Cade] Horton. This is your guy. And Jed Hoyer has made a study of Japan over the last five or six years, taking numerous trips there. I think this is the guy for the Chicago Cubs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Giants Are Out on Tatsuya Imai<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On December 1, <\/span>The Athletic\u2019s Andrew Baggarly reported <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, citing club sources, that the San Francisco Giants won\u2019t be one of the suitors for Imai due to several financial considerations. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As a result, the Giants do not expect to spend nine figures to sign Imai or any of the other leading pitchers available in free agency, which is good news for teams like the Cubs. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cAfter splurging on $182-million shortstop Willy Adames last offseason and taking on more than $250 million while trading for corner infielder Rafael Devers in June, their current preference is to limit their spending to short-term deals,\u201d Baggarly wrote. <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cubs Face One Hurdle in Potential Tatsuya Imai Pursuit<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">While the Giants and Dodgers appear to be out of the running, so might the Cubs. Imai notes that his desire isn\u2019t to be playing with any other Japanese pitcher, and the Cubs currently have Shota Imanaga. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cIf there were another Japanese player on the same team, I could just ask them about anything, right?\u201d Imai said in that same interview with Matsuzaka. \u201cBut that\u2019s actually not what I\u2019m looking for. In a way, I want to experience that sense of survival. When I come face-to-face with cultural differences, I want to see how I can overcome them on my own \u2014 that\u2019s part of what I\u2019m excited about.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It\u2019s not three Japanese players like Los Angeles, but would Imai bend what he\u2019s looking for to play in Chicago? The Cubs will need to do some convincing if this is the principle that he\u2019s sticking by. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. He previously covered the league for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area &amp; California, and has contributed as a freelance writer for The Sporting News. He also served as an editor for Athlon Sports and Heavy Sports focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/p>\n<h2>More Heavy on Cubs<\/h2>\n<p>Loading more stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cubs receive a clear message in the race for the standout Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai as his market continues to heat up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":128074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u26a1 EXCLUSIVE BREAKING TRACE: The Chicago Cubs have reportedly received a message about Tatsuya Imai so direct, so impossible to ignore, that insiders say the front office went silent for hours. 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