The Shota Imanaga contract saga has been equal parts frustrating and understandable, as the 32-year-old southpaw is now due to become a free agent after the Cubs declined their end of his contract option (and Imanaga followed suit).
They did throw another wrench into the mix by slapping him with the qualifying offer, which will be worth a little over $22 million over one year. There's a not-insignificant chance he takes that offer, especially since players attached to the QO have had difficulty finding amenable contracts in free agency in recent years.
Assuming Imanaga turns that down and decides to leave the Windy City, though, he'll have to convince interested parties that his second-half struggles weren't foreboding signs of decline.