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Cubs<\/a> left-hander Shota Imanaga is a free agent after the team declined its option to extend his contract to five years and $80 million, and he then declined a $15 million option for 2026, a source confirmed Tuesday.<\/p>\n Imanaga, 32, signed a four-year deal worth $53 million guaranteed with the Cubs in 2024, transitioning to Major League Baseball after a successful career in Japan\u2019s Nippon Professional Baseball.<\/p>\n His contract had an intricate structure<\/a>, giving the Cubs the option after both his second and third year to extend his deal to five years. Declining the option, however, would give Imanaga the opportunity to opt out.<\/p>\n The Cubs declined their option to extend Shota Imanaga’s contract to a total of 5 years and $80 million, and then Imanaga declined his $15 million option for 2026, @suntimes_sports<\/a> confirmed. @JesseRogersESPN<\/a> was on it first.<\/p>\n \u2014 Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) November 4, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n That\u2019s what happened this week. The Cubs still have the ability to extend a one-year qualifying offer ($22.025 million) to Imanaga in the coming days.<\/p>\n As soon as the Cubs decided not to make Imanaga part of their long-term plans, the left-hander\u2019s next move was obvious.<\/p>\n He\u2019d built a strong platform for free agency over his first two years in MLB. Imanaga was an All-Star in his rookie season. With a 2.91 ERA in 29 starts, he finished fifth in National League Cy Young voting and forth for NL Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n This season, a hamstring injury interrupted his sophomore campaign and is believed to have contributed to some mechanical inconsistency<\/a> down the stretch and into the playoffs. But Imanaga, the team\u2019s Opening Day starter in the Tokyo Series, still had flashes of dominance post-injury and compiled a 3.73 ERA over the course of the season.<\/p>\n The Cubs laid out an offseason plan for him to attack some of the lower-body issues they identified in his delivery late in the year, and he was ready to apply them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we signed Shota, if he\u2019d shown us his production over the last two years, we would have taken that in a heartbeat,\u201d Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer <\/b>said in his end-of-season news conference last month<\/u><\/a>. \u201cNot only has he produced for us, but he\u2019s a great teammate, a terrific asset to the organization. Obviously, we have decisions to make, and we\u2019ll have discussions, and over the next two or three weeks, we\u2019ll do that. But I\u2019ve got nothing but positive things to say about Shota.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cubs already were in need of starting pitching depth this offseason. Unless the Cubs extend a qualifying offer and Imanaga accepts, losing him in free agency would exacerbate that demand.<\/p>\n\n