Report: Cubs, Imanaga agree on contract

The Cubs are on the board. Finally.

Before Tuesday night's report from USA Today that they're close to signing left-handed starting pitcher Shota Imanaga, the Cubs were the only team in MLB that hadn't made a roster addition this offseason.

Imanaga should be worth the wait.

Pitching for the Yokohama BayStars in his native Japan last season, the 30-year-old Imanaga was 7-4 with a 2.80 ERA in 22 starts. The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder also had 174 strikeouts and only 24 walks over 148 innings.

Before the season, Imanaga started for Japan in the World Baseball Classic championship game. He allowed 1 run on 4 hits in 2 innings against Team USA and got the win.

Over eight seasons with Yokohama in Nippon Professional Baseball, Imanaga was 64-50 with a 3.18 ERA.

Imanaga has to pass a physical before Thursday's posting period deadline. Assuming he does, he'll be formally introduced Friday when the Cubs Convention opens at the Sheraton Grand Chicago.

In 2020, Imanaga made only 9 starts before having season-ending shoulder surgery.

Terms of his contract with the Cubs are unknown, but the deal is expected to be in the range of $100 million over five years.

While the Cubs still have some holes to fill around the diamond, the starting rotation looks to be set.

Imanaga joins ace Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Kyle Hendricks and either Javier Assad or Jordan Wicks.