The relationship between the Chicago Cubs and Shota Imanaga had a bit of a strange turn at the onset of the offseason.

The club declined their three-year option on the left-hander, which triggered a one-year player option that Imanaga turned down. Then, the Cubs extended the one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer to the 32-year-old, meaning he could still return to Chicago in 2026.

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That, naturally, could have caused some friction, no?

“Zero. It’s business,” Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins told Bruce Levine in a one-on-one interview on Marquee Sports Network. “We make hard decisions a lot, and our players — especially guys that have gotten to the level that Shota’s gotten to — they understand that and understand we have to make those.

“That’s separate from how we feel about him as a teammate, as a member of our organization. None of that all. We’ll see how all this plays out, but definitely all good vibes between us and Shota’s camp.”

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It’s unclear whether Imanaga will return to the Cubs – he has until Nov. 18 to decide on the qualifying offer – but there’s no denying the impact he had on the team in his first two seasons in America.

The left-hander dazzled fans on his first day, singing the lyrics to “Go Cubs Go” in English at his introductory press conference. He followed that up with a nine-strikeout performance in his major-league debut and finished his rookie campaign with a 2.91 ERA, an All-Star appearance and top five finishes in both the NL Cy Young Award and NL Rookie of the Year.

That made him a fan favorite and the sparked him to be the Cubs’ 2025 Opening Day starter in the Tokyo Series against the Dodgers. Things still went well early in the season despite a hamstring injury that kept him out for two months, as he carried a 2.40 ERA through mid-July.

But home run issues began to plague him late in the year. He permitted 20 home runs overs his final 12 starts and the Cubs used an opener in front of him in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Padres. He allowed three home runs in 6.2 playoff innings across two games and didn’t pitch in the decisive Game 5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Division Series.

“I don’t want to close that door completely by any stretch,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters at the GM Meetings at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. “But ultimately, we didn’t think that the club option was right value. He didn’t think that the player options right value and that happens.”

“I don’t want to close that door completely, but ultimately we didn’t think the club option was the right value, he didn’t think the player option was the right value and that happens.”

Jed Hoyer on the decision to not pick up Shota Imanaga’s option. pic.twitter.com/YPTUeikTJd

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) November 11, 2025

The Cubs still see value in the left-hander. After all, the Cubs effectively ran out of starting pitching in the playoffs, using just Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd as traditional starters in October. They need pitching and are on the hunt for more arms to pair with that duo, rookie Cade Horton and the rest of their pitching staff.

But committing to him for three years didn’t make sense to them – and Imanaga taking a one-year, $15 million deal wasn’t logical for the left-hander, either. But that doesn’t close the door on a reunion and there’ll be no awkwardness if he’s donning blue pinstripes next season.

“Awesome two years with Shota, did so much for the Cubs and for the community and was such a great teammate,” Hawkins said. “We’ll see where it plays out. If you look backwards, [it was] awesome and if we look forward, if he ends up with us on a one-year [deal], great. If not, we’ll see where our next steps are.”

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