Cubs president Jed Hoyer discusses Shota Imanaga option decisions and future

LAS VEGAS — By next Tuesday, the Cubs will know whether left-hander Shota Imanaga will accept the qualifying offer ($22.025 million) to re-sign with the team for 2026.

If he accepts, the Cubs have clarity on their starting pitching needs for this offseason. If he declines, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday that the Cubs were open to further negotiation.

“We obviously value Shota a ton,” Hoyer said Tuesday, when asked about declining Imanaga’s three-year club option worth shy of $58 million. “He was amazing for us as a pitcher, as a teammate, and I don't want to close that door completely, by any stretch. But ultimately, we didn't think that the club option was the right value. He didn't think that the player option was the right value. And that happens.”

Hoyer addressed the media Tuesday at the general managers meetings in Las Vegas for the first time since his end-of-season press conference last month. He spoke about the moves the Cubs had already made — declining Imanaga’s club option, trading veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge, re-signing Colin Rea. And he expounded on the Cubs’ biggest offseason priority: pitching.

“That’s obvious (when you) look at our depth chart,” Hoyer said. “We're in pretty good position on the position player inside. On the pitching side, we're thinner. And so I think that's going to be our focus. And I expect to explore trades. I expect to explore free agency, both at the top of the market, but then also looking at minor-league free agency.”

As an example, Hoyer pointed to last year, when the Cubs both signed left-hander Matthew Boyd to a two-year contract worth $29 million, and added right-handed reliever Brad Keller to a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training. Both were integral to the Cubs’ success.

Imanaga’s decision on the qualifying offer, however, will come down before the trade and free-agent markets pick up this offseason.

Hoyer said he wasn’t worried about the rejected club and player options causing friction in future discussions.

“Our decision doesn't reflect at all our feelings about Shota,” he said. “I don't think his decision reflects how he feels about the team. Both sides are trying to make the best decision for them, and we'll continue to have dialogue.”

Taken as a whole, Imanga’s performance in the first two years of his contract was, in Hoyer’s words, “exceptional.”

This past season, a left hamstring strain presented an unfamiliar challenge for Imanaga, who said it was his first time dealing with a lower-body muscle injury. His velocity was down when he came back from the injured list, which was understandable considering it was an injury to his drive leg.

Imanaga’s four-seam fastball quickly regained velocity, but it didn’t quite fully rebound to the 91.7 mph that the pitch averaged in 2024, according to Statcast, sitting around 91 mph in August and September. Though Imanaga isn’t a flame-thrower by any means, maintaining velocity helps him create separation between his four-seam fastball and sinker.

Even during the season, the Cubs were developing an offseason plan for Imanaga to regain some of the lower-body strength and flexibility that wasn’t realistic to build back while pitching every five or six days.

Imanaga is still expected to target those areas this offseason, regardless of whether he returns to the Cubs or not, and he’s expected to bounce back to pre-injury form. But the dip in velocity and increase in home runs off his fastball late in the season (eight in September), could raise discussions about long-term sustainability.

On the flip side, Imanaga still had stretches of dominance as he posted a 3.73 ERA last season and has a clear path forward to address the concerns that cropped up down the stretch, through strength work and refining his delivery. He should garner plenty of interest from teams, as his representatives gauge his market.

"It's a whole body at work, is how you're, you're making an assessment of what you think player's going to be in the future," Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins said. "And so, yes, [recent struggles are] factored in, but you try not to factor it in too, too much. And obviously, the [qualifying offer] is a decent chunk of change too."

Notes

• Hoyer said that parting ways with Kittredge back was “a close call.”

The team went into the offseason with Kittredge and young pitchers Daniel Palencia and Porter Hodge still on the roster, already looking at almost fully rebuilding their bullpen. But then they traded Kittredge — who had a $9 million club option, or $1 million buyout, left on his contract — back to the Orioles.

"You save the buyout by trading him back there, and then we could redeploy that money elsewhere,” Hoyer said. “But it was timing as much as anything because I do think Andrew was great for us. Really impressive.”

• Re-signing Rea, who has starting and relieving experience, to a one-year deal with a 2027 club option addressed needs in both areas.

“He was terrific, and I thought it got better as the season went on,” Hoyer said. “... He's the really valuable ‘out-getter’ for [manager Craig Counsell].”