Cubs give Kyle Tucker and Shota Imanaga qualifying offers that feel like farewells

With MLB free agency starting on Thursday, the biggest housecleaning items the Chicago Cubs had to take care of were potentially extending qualifying offers to Kyle Tucker and Shota Imanaga. With the offer set at $22.025MM, would be in a position to get draft pick compensation for either player if they were to extend the offer and they sign elsewhere. ESPN's Jeff Passan confirmed that both Imanaga and Tucker received the qualifying offer.

There was never a doubt that the Cubs were going to attach the qualifying offer to Tucker's free agency; the question was with Imanaga. The Cubs and Imanaga seemingly are at a standstill with the team during down a three-year club option worth $57MM, and Imanaga, in turn, rejecting his $15MM player option.

Kyle Tucker and Shota Imanaga both have been extended a qualifying offer by the Cubs, but only one has the chance of returning.

Both Imanaga and Tucker now have until November 18 to decide whether or not to take the offer. Tucker, positioned as the best free agent on the market, is certain to turn it down, but Imanaga may be a different story.

In a scenario where Imanaga is looking for a short-term deal to prove that his second-half struggles last season were tied to his hamstring injury, there is some sense in taking the qualifying offer, as it would essentially serve as a prove-it deal. Imanaga, by all accounts, loves being with the Cubs, and the qualifying offer would allow another season for things to be worked out, and then the conversation of his long-term future can be revisited next offseason.

If you're the Cubs, clearly, they aren't fearful of the idea that Imanaga will accept the offer. At the center of why the Cubs declined the club option is that Imanaga's long-term profile may have shifted with his struggles to close out the regular season and into the playoffs. In an offseason where they need pitching and more pitching, Imanaga's potential return, especially for one year, makes sense for both parties.

While the Tucker trade won't age in the Cubs' favor, adding a draft pick for his likely departure is a silver lining.