Shota Imanaga decides which MLB team to sign with

Mar 21, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Japan starting pitcher Shota Imanaga (21) delivers a pitch during the first inning against USA at LoanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Shota Imanaga has decided to sign with a team that is no stranger to Japanese talent.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported Tuesday that the star lefty pitcher Imanaga has reached a tentative agreement to sign with the Chicago Cubs. Imanaga will be undergoing a physical in Chicago on Thursday before the deal becomes official.

The 30-year-old Imanaga was one of the top lefties still available on the market (though Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery remain out there as well). A two-time All-Star in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Imanaga was 7-5 with a shiny 2.77 ERA and 188 strikeouts in 24 starts last season for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Other than the Cubs, Imanaga had serious interest from several other big-name MLB teams.

For Chicago, who already have Seiya Suzuki on their roster and had the likes of Kosuke Fukudome, Yu Darvish, and Koji Uehara before him, they had surprisingly failed to make a single free agent signing to this point of the offseason. Reeling in Imanaga for their opening act is a pretty major coup though, particularly since he was widely expected to sign with a different National League club just days ago.