Shota Imanaga is staying with the Chicago Cubs for at least one more season.

Imanaga accepted the Cubs’ qualifying offer ahead of Tuesday’s 3 p.m. deadline, a source confirmed to the Tribune. Kyle Tucker declined his qualifying offer as expected, which will net the Cubs draft-pick compensation if the 28-year-old right fielder signs elsewhere.

Imanaga was one of four players to accept among the 13 big-leaguers who were tendered a qualifying offer. The 32-year-old left-hander will earn $22.025 million in 2026.

Tucker’s decision was a no-brainer with him positioned to earn a lucrative long-term contract. Imanaga faced a more difficult choice: take the high salary and stay with the Cubs for another season or seek a multiyear deal with more guaranteed money but likely a lower salary next year.

The Cubs also added three minor-leaguers — infielders James Triantos and Pedro Ramirez and left-hander Riley Martin — to their 40-man roster, protecting them from December’s Rule 5 draft. Their additions plus Imanaga returning puts the 40-man roster at 32 players.

The Cubs would not have been surprised if Imanaga had turned down the qualifying offer in an effort to find a multiyear deal elsewhere. Earlier this month they chose to decline the three-year, $57 million club option in Imanaga’s contract, triggering a $15 million player option for 2026 that he declined.

“We have really good feelings toward him, and our decision doesn’t reflect at all our feelings about Shota,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said last week at the general managers meetings in Las Vegas. “I don’t think his decision reflects how he feels. Both sides are trying to make the best decision for them, and we’ll continue to have dialogue.

“Obviously he struggled a bit at the end (of this past season). But when you look at the entire body of work over the two years, it was exceptional.”

The Cubs still can negotiate a multiyear deal with Imanaga, though clearly the two sides view his value differently. Pitching was already a priority for Hoyer and the Cubs this offseason. Imanaga’s return doesn’t change that approach. The organization is emphasizing that need as the Cubs look to bolster the rotation and rebuild the bullpen.

Imanaga made the National League All-Star team in his first major-league season in 2024, finishing 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 137 ERA+. His 2025 performance was more uneven, starting with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of May and June.

Despite the missed time, he allowed 31 home runs — tied for fourth-most in the majors — in 25 starts, including 15 over his last nine regular-season starts in August and September. He finished the regular season 9-8 with a 3.73 ERA and 103 ERA+, and after he was rocked for four runs, including two homers, in 2 2/3 innings in Game 2 of the NL Division Series versus the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs opted not to use Imanaga in the decisive Game 5 loss.

Tucker also was hampered by injuries during his lone season with the Cubs, who acquired him in a December 2024 trade with the Houston Astros. Though he earned his fourth straight All-Star selection, Tucker played through a jammed finger and a later-revealed hairline fracture in his right hand before landing on the injured list in early September with a left calf strain.

He missed nearly three weeks before returning for the final regular-season series and the postseason, during which he was used solely as the designated hitter while his calf continued to heal. Tucker batted .266 in the regular season with 22 home runs, 73 RBIs, 25 stolen bases and an .841 OPS.

As for the 40-man roster additions, the 22-year-old Triantos, a second-round pick in 2021, hit .258 with seven home runs and 43 RBIs in his first full season at Triple A.

Ramirez, 21, spent this year at Double A, where he hit .280, sixth in the Southern League, with eight home runs and 73 RBIs.

In his third year at Triple-A Iowa, Martin posted a 2.69 ERA in 47 appearances (one start). A sixth-round pick in 2021, the 27-year-old lefty owns a 3.89 ERA spanning 136 1/3 innings since he first pitched with Iowa in 2023.