It felt like goodbye for the Chicago Cubs and Shota Imanaga last week after both the team and the pitcher declined their respective options to continue their union. While the one-year, $22 million qualifying offer is still on the table until November 18 and seems like a real possibility, all indications have been that the front office has other preferred plans to upgrade the rotation with the money saved. Yet, Jed Hoyer wanted to make it clear that this isn't a case of the team not valuing their former ace.
Imanaga's famously complex four-year, $53 million contract baked in the possibility that one side or the other might want to end the partnership early, depending on performance.