Tatsuya Imai to the Astros

[Jason Ross]

6 minutes ago, thawv said:

I meant the lowest in his career as far as percent of the league.  You're right. 

I'm not super worried about where he ranks league wide, myself. League RHP SP's were at 94.6mph last year. It was 94.3 mph in 2023 when he was the 6th best SP based on fWAR. It's pretty moot.

His issue is shape. 

[Dfan25]

Imai to Astros 

[Neuby]

Astros  lol.

[Jason Ross]

Good for the Astros. Good evaluation team. Bummer it's not the Cubs - lots of options remaining but that one stings from a personal level because I really liked him.

[Jason Ross]

 

[Hortonhearsawho]

Great work Hoyer.

[Jason Ross]

This is an insane contract structure - the Cubs couldn't match it and I don't blame them. Much like Michael King - an opt out next year has to be a non-starter.

[Dfan25]

Yeah , was going to post that . Cubs don’t have that kind of money available and even if they did , I doubt they valued him that high 

[Jason Ross]

Just now, Dfan25 said:

Yeah , was going to post that . Cubs don’t have that kind of money available and even if they did , I doubt they valued him that high 

It's not the AAV. They have the AAV. Its the opt out. They can't handle another FA next year.

[mk49]

10 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

This is an insane contract structure - the Cubs couldn't match it and I don't blame them. Much like Michael King - an opt out next year has to be a non-starter.

Yeah, I agree.  Too bad, we didn't get him. 

I just heard it's $63m for 3 years with opt outs every year.  That's pretty crazy.  Not a bad deal for Imai at all.  The Cubs probably offered opt out after 2 seasons or something like that.

Edited January 1 by mk49

[Irrelevant Dude]

3 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

It's not the AAV. They have the AAV. Its the opt out. They can't handle another FA next year.

Obviously we have to wait and see how the rest of the offseason plays out, but having one year of Imai is better than not having another quality starting pitcher in the rotation.  If they sign or trade for another high-end starter, then it's a moot point, but we will see what happens.

[Neuby]

$21M a season? 

[Dfan25]

9 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

It's not the AAV. They have the AAV. Its the opt out. They can't handle another FA next year.

Oh yeah , my bad . I thought Rogers post said the AAV was higher than Yamamoto .  Cubs have like 25 left still . Gallen and backup 3B most likely 

Edited January 1 by Dfan25

[Jason Ross]

3 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Obviously we have to wait and see how the rest of the offseason plays out, but having one year of Imai is better than not having another quality starting pitcher in the rotation.  If they sign or trade for another high-end starter, then it's a moot point, but we will see what happens.

There is no chance that the Cubs viewed this as "Imai or bust". So I don't think you'll have to worry. It might be Zac Gallen whom you may not feel is a high-end starter, but I think the Cubs will bring in a starter they view as a high-end guy.

[ILMindState]

 

 

[Hortonhearsawho]

Time to fix Gallen I guess. 

[Jason Ross]

Just now, ILMindState said:

 

 

Far closer to Shota than I expected. 

[Neuby]

Not gambling on Imai's potential  but paying more for Gallen ontop of Draft picks & IFA money is peak Hoyer.  

 

[17 Seconds]

another whiff

[Irrelevant Dude]

Is there a generally accepted dollar amount that an opt out is worth?  In other words, how much more would a team have had to pay him to remove one or more opt outs from the deal?

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 minute ago, Neuby said:

Not gambling on Imai's potential  but paying more for Gallen ontop of Draft picks & IFA money is peak Hoyer.  

 

That's the part I don't like.  The Cubs continue to expend other resources rather than simple spending money.

[thawv]

12 minutes ago, mk49 said:

Yeah, I agree.  Too bad, we didn't get him. 

I just heard it's $63m for 3 years with opt outs every year.  That's pretty crazy.  Not a bad deal for Imai at all.  The Cubs probably offered opt out after 2 seasons or something like that.

It's 3/54 with incentives to reach 3/63.   

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, Neuby said:

Not gambling on Imai's potential  but paying more for Gallen ontop of Draft picks & IFA money is peak Hoyer.  

 

When have the Cubs overpaid in picks and IFA money under Hoyer?

[Hortonhearsawho]

1 minute ago, thawv said:

It's 3/54 with incentives to reach 3/63.   

That's like a hundred million less than Grok was willing to pay him. 😂

[Illiterate Scholar]

That price tells me that Hoyer wasn't really waiting on Imai and has probably always been more focused on other options, likely Boras guys with no deadline.