Even if Shota Imanaga accepts the qualifying offer the Chicago Cubs submitted on Thursday, the team still has plenty of room to operate this offseason. At the very least, that is nearly $45MM saved by the Cubs in not exercising the three-year, $57MM option that was in Imanaga's original deal with the team. And if Imanaga lands elsewhere, the Cubs have more than enough money to find an upgrade for his spot in the rotation.
MLB Trade Rumors released their expert free-agent predictions, and they have the Cubs replacing Imanaga with an interesting name.