Pushing For Imai | Japanese Ace In Play | Cubs Baseball Rumors

Pushing For Imai | Japanese Ace In Play | Cubs Baseball Rumors

A lot of you guys have said that the Cubs off season has been boring, but what if the Cubs end up signing one of the most coveted pitchers on the market? Well, they’re predicted right now to be in the final three for Tatsia Imi. Good news. We’re going to get into that. They also resigned one of their key pieces to last year’s bullpen, Caleb Thiar. So, we’re going to get into both of those things right here on the Cubs baseball channel. Like, subscribe, thumbs up, hit the bell. Let’s talk about baseball today. slide some Cardinals cracks in there or don’t. What doesn’t matter. I just love the fact that the Cubs are kind of sitting back waiting to make a move. Something that they’ve under Jed Hoyer have kind of proven that they’ll do. And maybe we’re being a little impatient right now for what could be a great off season. Let’s go. [music] >> [music] [music] >> What do you say everybody? Mick Gillespie Cubs baseball channel and I just want to tell you guys thank you for being here. Like, subscribe, thumbs up, be part of what we do on a daily basis. Get in the comments section and uh just to let you know, man, we appreciate you guys being part of this. We’re doing this and it’s because of you. Thank you every day. All right. Uh Tatia Emi the sweep stakes apparently according to reports is down to three. Now this has to be done by January the 2nd. I love when Japanese players are posted because you don’t have to sit around and wait and wait and wait, right? Because basically um it it has to be done or the posting ends, right? And they have to go back. So Jed Hoyer, Carter Hawkins, um, both have been very good at playing the market or at least trying to play the market to get the most out of the means that they’re given to basically work with. At least I thought they did a good job of that last year and I know that that’s their strategy this year. Carter Hawkins actually said that, you know, basically be patient and that’s tough to do because we want the Cubs to go out [laughter] there and sign everybody. We want the best team. So the 45day window for II ends on January the 2nd. And that means that you know that you’re starting to get into the point now where you’re you’re you’re kind of have to start figuring out where the destinations are. So december 16th in the Wall Street Journal talk about a story that’s basically saying that suitors are lining up for Emi around 150 to $200 million to get it. So the Cubs are in this mix. They’re they’re certainly in this mix. Who else is in the mix? Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees. So, if you’re the Cubs, would you rather have Imi or Ranger Suarez? That’s the question, right? Because if the Phillies are in there, that may be what they’re looking at going, “Hey, we we don’t want Ranger anymore. We want I feel like I is going to be that guy to come in here and and make something happen.” Now, again, the scouting report on Imi is that he’s athletic. He’s a little undersized, but he’s a right-hander. He’s mid 90s with the fast ball, the sidearm uh run, which is really nasty. He’s got that late breaking slider, and he’s got deception, which I absolutely love as a guy that played a lot of baseball from the low three quarter slot. Like those guys that absolutely hide the ball, the way they throw it. It’s people always talk about VO. For me, it’s changing speeds and the deception that goes along with it, right? Whether that’s the way that you protect the ball from batters seeing it or when you throw something and it looks like it’s going to be a ball and it’s a strike or it looks like it’s going to be a strike and it’s a ball which is movement, right? I don’t I don’t care as much as a lot of people do about VO. I care about outs you know and not giving up runs uh at the same time. So now you’re talking about a guy that’s 5 foot1, super competitive. Um sometimes his fast ball can get up 97 98 99. Uh when you add that arm slot in there, he becomes really tough. And then we’ve mentioned this before. When I hear about the gyro slider, I think about one of my all-time favorite players, Satchel Page, right? Didn’t get to pitch in the big leagues a whole lot, but you’re talking about a legend in baseball in the Negro Leagues. And what he threw was a gyro pitch, right? We that’s what they called it. And if you ever get to the uh the the the Negro League Museum of Baseball in Birmingham, they actually have a simulator of him throwing this pitch, which is absolutely cool. I mean, you know, like he’s got you push a button and you’re standing in the batters box and here it comes. One of them is the gyro. So, I think that’s pretty cool. Um the the fact that that uh I is athletic makes you feel like he’s going to stay healthy. Uh his walk rate declined significantly over the last couple of seasons as he’s gotten better at controlling the strike zone. So the thing that helps you with Amay if you’re the Cubs is that you look at Yamamoto with the Dodgers and you’re going okay this is the best pitcher in baseball right now in the clutch and a World Series MVP plus you look at what Sea Suzuki did right uh what 30 home runs did he have 100 plus runs batted in had a great postseason and and I don’t even feel like he’s really touched what he could potentially do because he’s dealt with injuries loved him in the DA spot I know that if the Cubs don’t sign Tucker, then he’ll be a guy that we’ll see out in right field a lot. But you’re talking about a fast ball slider, splitter, change up, and curveball mix for Emi. So, it’s exciting to see the Cubs being right now projected as one of the three finalists for MI. And that may be why the the off season is slow for the Cubs because if if your your whole off season’s going to be basically around this signing, right? So, maybe you you don’t get him. Maybe instead of Rangers Suarez, maybe you trade for McKenzie Gore. Maybe you do it anyway and you give up one of the guys in the rotation. Um I I think the Cubs got to be aggressive like they were last year, like they were under Theo Epstein. Go after superior talent. And I love these guys from Japan because they have come in and they have just done a fantastic job of becoming some of the best players in Major League Baseball. Now, I want to tell you guys about Avenue D. Join MC Nation. That’s our QR code right there. You guys hit that QR code and uh join right now. We got swag hats to give away. We’re working on some other stuff as well. But we also do cash prizes each week and it’s all free, right? This is just our web three home. It’s, you know, we’re not a casino. We’re just just trying to make it fun for you guys to hang out. Right now, we’re picking college football. Alabama and Oklahoma are playing on Friday. That’s the game that we’re doing this week. You can pick each quarter of that football game for 250 bucks. So, if you get the score right in all four quarters, you’re going to win $1,000. How fun is that? So, take advantage of that. Be a part of it. It’s also part of our run with Kelshi. You know, Kelsey, the prediction market. And um you know what the question is? Maybe I should should check and see what Kelchi thinks about where’s I checking it and Amaya’s not in there. But I’ll tell you what is. Uh the prediction market right now for the destination for Kyle Tucker is Toronto. 41% of the money right now, which is $29,000 plus exchanged. Toronto, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cubs are way back there. Anyway, we appreciate Kelshi and uh want you guys to check that out. Now, some good news for the Cubs and that is this. They resigned left-hander Caleb Theobar. Uh I I don’t think this is a surprise. I I got a feeling that the Cubs would really like to to resign a few of those pitchers that helped them so much in the bullpen. Guys that we didn’t expect to have great seasons, but they did. So, Caleb Theobbar, uh, 38 years old, he had a 264 erra, pitched 67 games last year. So, him and new cubby Milner are the lefties in the bullpen. Uh, obviously he’s got to go through a physical, which I’m sure by now is probably, you know, done. Uh, when you when you have these left-handers that come in and get the job done, you absolutely love it. He earned this contract. I feel like he he did earn this contract. Um, so the the big one is going to be Brad Keller. Where’s he going to go? We’ll keep an eye on that. He’s one of the guys who a lot of teams are coveting right now, but the Cubs will have Theo Bar back. So, they got a couple of left-handers netted now for the bullpen next year. Thank you guys for hanging. Make sure that you like and subscribe. Give us a thumbs up. What do you think about Emi? Would you rather have I Ranger Suarez, Zack Gallon, or go make a trade for McKenzie Gore? Do you think the Cubs are going to be able to pull off one of those four guys? And do you think that the Cubs would maybe get two of these guys? Maybe you move somebody else and you bring somebody else in to the rotation. What we know right now in baseball is that you got to have three guys at the top of your rotation that get it done to win big, right? To win a World Series, you got to have that. And I feel like the Cubs kind of got that feel and they’re working towards that. So, that’s a good thing. So, we’ll find out. But anyway, thank you for being here. Like, subscribe, thumbs up. We’ll do it again. Uh numbers are absolutely fantastic. And I want to thank all of you guys that are international viewers of the show. I know there’s a ton of you that are from Venezuela. Love Venezuela. great baseball country and Japan, another great baseball country. Two of my favorite all-time places and I would love to fly out to your home and check it out because when you talk about places I’d like to visit, got to have baseball involved. But all of you guys, no matter where you’re watching, thank you so much. Like and subscribe, give us a thumbs up, be a part of what we do every day. And again, go >> [music]

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This Episode:
– CUBS In Final Group For Tatsuya Imai
– The Next Cubs Ace…
– Cubs Sign Caleb Thielbar for 2026

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Mick Gillispie has covered the Chicago Cubs since 2007 and has been a fan of the team since the 1984 season. He has broadcasted spring training games or been heard on Cubs.com, MLB.com, 670 The Score, WGN, CSN-Chicago and Marquee Sports Network. He is an award winning play-by-play voice for the Tennessee Smokies Cubs Double-A Affiliate. He has also hosted many forums over the years at Cubs Convention including Down on The Farm