Shota Imanaga sends a loud message to Cubs' front office after contract decision

The Shota Imanaga contract saga has been equal parts frustrating and understandable, as the 32-year-old southpaw is now due to become a free agent after the Cubs declined their end of his contract option (and Imanaga followed suit).

They did throw another wrench into the mix by slapping him with the qualifying offer, which will be worth a little over $22 million over one year. There's a not-insignificant chance he takes that offer, especially since players attached to the QO have had difficulty finding amenable contracts in free agency in recent years.

Assuming Imanaga turns that down and decides to leave the Windy City, though, he'll have to convince interested parties that his second-half struggles weren't foreboding signs of decline. Things got so bad that Craig Counsell opted to keep him plastered to the bench in Game 5 of the NLDS on full rest.

It appears that Imanaga and his camp have found their angle to pitch to teams. According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, Imanaga is blaming his home run troubles and diminished effectiveness on the Cubs, citing their desire to rush him back from a hamstring injury early in the year.

Shota Imanaga's excuse for struggles with Cubs doesn't hold much weight

While it's true that Imanaga had a big disparity in his performance in the first half (2.65 ERA) and second half (4.70 ERA), it's not like it was a linear drop-off for the Japanese starter.

He surrendered a scant .299 slugging percentage and 2.65 ERA in August, pitching more like his 2024 self than he had at any other point during the season. Considering the hamstring injury he's citing happened in early May, it's hard to believe he returned, struggled immediately (4.32 ERA in July), got better, and then got worse again (6.51 ERA in September).

In truth, his home run problems were what really caught up to him. Imanaga allowed at least one home run in each of his final nine appearances during the regular season, including multi-homer efforts in five of his final six starts. He's always given up a bunch of fly balls (36.1% rate for his career), and he wasn't able to keep as many in the yard down the stretch.

Again, the qualifying offer does introduce some difficult questions into this saga. And it's not like keeping Imanaga — who has authored a 3.28 ERA since coming over from Japan — would be the worst thing in the world.

It's just clear that the Cubs have soured on him, and in turn, he appears ready to leave Chicago. It's a less-than-amicable ending for a guy who appeared to be the face of the rotation just a few months ago, but baseball is a "what have you done for me lately" kind of sport.

If Imanaga does leave, it'll be fascinating to see if he can beat the three-year, $57 million contract the Cubs initially declined to get to this point.