Who's gaga for Imanaga? - It's the Cubs! Cubs sign Imanaga per Heyman/Nightengale

[Jason Ross]

Mooney reported Cubs were not seen as favorites, but Bowden has us as a finalist. Figured we should give him his own space. 

[Bertz]

So this is probably "it's just a little airborn" style coping but

Quote

Barring a last-minute reversal, a league source said Chicago is not seen as a likely landing spot for Shota Imanaga, 

Then two sentences later

Quote

Jordan Montgomery is viewed as a better potential fit for the Cubs than Blake Snell, per a team source

So Mooney's cold water is not from the Cubs (which does not necessarily mean he's wrong)

[CubinNY]

the taters he dishes out scare me. 

[Jason Ross]

21 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

the taters he dishes out scare me. 

Yeah, they're not great. I think there's a lot of hope, however, that he's a candidate for an MLB style pitch mix fix. He throws his fastball more than I'd hope and rarely throws it up. His fastball is not his first or his second best offering. Based on shape and movement, his fastball likely, even at a lower velocity, would probably play better if he elevated it. I think a mix-fix that saw him throw the splitter more, and earlier in the count, while using the fastball as a put-away-pitch up (and used less often) would probably help curb the HR data. 

[Jason Ross]

25 minutes ago, Bertz said:

So this is probably "it's just a little airborn" style coping but

Then two sentences later

So Mooney's cold water is not from the Cubs (which does not necessarily mean he's wrong)

Yeah I had noticed that piece of syntax too. My hope is that the league source is guessing on the Cubs behavior though think it's probably more likely that the Cubs just aren't the favorites here when you consider his final price tag should be over $100m and where we were pre-FA period. The Cubs haven't had a recent history of winning FA bidding wars so them jumping their internal "line in the sand" is unlikely (until they do it).

[We Got The Whole 9]

10 minutes ago, Bertz said:

So this is probably "it's just a little airborn" style coping but

Then two sentences later

So Mooney's cold water is not from the Cubs (which does not necessarily mean he's wrong)

No comp pick attached, so it makes sense to go outside of your comfort zone for imanaga and Montgomery.

[LBiittner]

How come, When I look up imanaga in Wikipedia, a picture of fukudome comes up?

[Stratos]

I'd probably take Montgomery over Imanaga.

[Tryptamine]

1 hour ago, Stratos said:

I'd probably take Montgomery over Imanaga.

It's a far safer bet and if Imanaga really is getting into the 110M range, I'd rather pay the difference and go with the known commodity. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

I think I'd rather have Manaea at 2/30-35. Really intrigued by the big velo bump and the sweeper. His FB was 94-95 in the 2nd half. 

 

Kind of feel like we should have signed Mahle. Potential for great value in that deal.

[Bertz]

https://theathletic.com/5182600/2024/01/05/shota-imanaga-mlb-free-agency?source=user-shared-article

This is kind of wild, it basically poo-poos every team except the Red Sox, and if you read anything from the Rex Sox beat outside of The Athletic it sounds really unlikely they add a high priced SP.

[gocubs218]

I think we have a chance here.

[Jason Ross]

Conflicting reports. One Japanese reports Cubs have "withdrawn" (reposted by BN). Zumach reposted this tweet below claiming the opposite. I'm surprised to see the Dodgers named here, and a disclaimer on both...I don't know anything about who to believe on the Japanese side of reporting. No one I follow (I follow the vast majority of good reporting baseball media) follows the guy below. 

 

 

[JHBulls]

A January 7th tweet claiming Dodgers are favourites for Imanaga is just trolling at this stage and yet, I tend to believe it because why the horsefeathers not? 

[Tryptamine]

6 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Conflicting reports. One Japanese reports Cubs have "withdrawn" (reposted by BN). Zumach reposted this tweet below claiming the opposite. I'm surprised to see the Dodgers named here, and a disclaimer on both...I don't know anything about who to believe on the Japanese side of reporting. No one I follow (I follow the vast majority of good reporting baseball media) follows the guy below. 

 

 

Dodgers land Imanaga too and the rest of the league shouldn't even bother putting an offer in on Roki Sasaki when he comes over.

[Bertz]

19 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Conflicting reports. One Japanese reports Cubs have "withdrawn" (reposted by BN). Zumach reposted this tweet below claiming the opposite. I'm surprised to see the Dodgers named here, and a disclaimer on both...I don't know anything about who to believe on the Japanese side of reporting. No one I follow (I follow the vast majority of good reporting baseball media) follows the guy below. 

 

 

It's fake.  Exhibit A

 

 

[JHBulls]

27 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Dodgers land Imanaga too and the rest of the league shouldn't even bother putting an offer in on Roki Sasaki when he comes over.

Oh yeah, he’s Dodgers bound too. At least I will have absolutely no anxiety when I see the Cubs linked to Sasaki in 10-12 months, I will just not care one bit about it. 

Edited January 6, 2024 by JHBulls

[Jason Ross]

6 minutes ago, Bertz said:

It's fake.  Exhibit A

 

 

Damnit. I figured "Greg is reposting it, gotta be safe!".

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I gotta get me one of those bullet train perks

[Tryptamine]

Just now, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I gotta get me one of those bullet train perks

They're surprisingly comfy. It's a far better experience than the "L".

[Jason Ross]

5 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I gotta get me one of those bullet train perks

Frankly, I increasingly want an interpreter. 

- someone who teaches preteens 8 hours a day. 

[Stratos]

16 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

I think I'd rather have Manaea at 2/30-35. Really intrigued by the big velo bump and the sweeper. His FB was 94-95 in the 2nd half. 

 

Kind of feel like we should have signed Mahle. Potential for great value in that deal.

Manaea's mph went up a couple of MPH but his fb actually was hit slightly worse last year.  The sweeper you mention was basically unhittable though, and he didn't use it much.

[Bertz]

The deadline for this process to be finished, so like physical done, ink dry on the contract, etc. is Thursday at noon.  So we probably find out today where he's going, certainly by tomorrow.

[Jason Ross]

One thing I've been thinking is how quiet the Imanaga recruitment has been. It feels a bit like the Suzuki posting, if we're being honest. Now, I think the Covid offseason and CBA negotiations hid some of that, but at the same time, it's been pretty hushed. I wonder if that signals the Cubs are doing a bit better here than maybe we thought based on the Mooney reports (from league sources).

[Transmogrified Tiger]

1 minute ago, 1908_Cubs said:

One thing I've been thinking is how quiet the Imanaga recruitment has been. It feels a bit like the Suzuki posting, if we're being honest. Now, I think the Covid offseason and CBA negotiations hid some of that, but at the same time, it's been pretty hushed. I wonder if that signals the Cubs are doing a bit better here than maybe we thought based on the Mooney reports (from league sources).

I forget where I read it, and it's likely rationalization, but given how pessimistic local media are for basically every suitor, I kinda wonder how much the 'gonna get 9 figures' messaging is agent-driven and/or includes posting fee. Maybe in practice he's ultimately sitting on Seiya-level offers in terms of total dollars?  And given how much other teams have visibly moved on or indicated that even Seiya-dollars might be a stretch, maybe the Cubs are closer to a coin flip?  Or maybe a mystery team is about to give him 5/125.