{"id":371778,"date":"2025-11-11T15:10:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371778\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T15:10:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:10:15","slug":"cubs-can-make-up-for-kyle-tucker-loss-by-signing-japanese-star-writes-espns-jeff-passan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371778\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs can make up for Kyle Tucker loss by signing Japanese star, writes ESPN’s Jeff Passan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cubs can make up for Kyle Tucker loss by signing Japanese star, writes ESPN’s Jeff Passan<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kyle Tucker is regarded as the top MLB free agent this offseason.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

He just played for the Chicago Cubs<\/a>, but there seems to be a general feeling that Tucker won’t be returning to Wrigley Field.<\/p>\n

If that is indeed the case, the Cubs may have some work to do to improve their team. They don’t necessarily need an outfield replacement for Tucker, though.<\/p>\n

ESPN’s Jeff Passan has a different idea<\/a>, calling the “perfect move” for the Cubs this offseason one in which they sign Japanese right-handed pitcher Tatsuya Imai.<\/p>\n

“Even with Tucker expected to leave, the Cubs still have plenty of thump in their lineup,” Passan writes. “They will win or lose based on pitching, and their starting rotation needs help. The Cubs aren’t the sort of team inclined to pay pitchers for past-their-prime years, and while that tends to be the sort of thing that’s incompatible with free agency, there happens to be a 27-year-old available this winter who won’t even cost a draft pick to sign. It’s just money, and seeing as the Cubs don’t spend a whole lot of that — their current projected payroll is around $150 million — now seems the right time to splurge a little.”<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0<\/strong>The Dodgers have an $87 million free agency secret weapon<\/a><\/p>\n

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand recently provided<\/a> this strong scouting report of Imai:<\/p>\n

“Fresh off a season that saw him post a career-low 1.92 ERA over 163 2\/3 innings, Imai seems likely to be posted by the Seibu Lions, adding another decorated Japanese star to this year\u2019s free-agent market. Imai, who is listed at 5-foot-11 and 154 pounds, throws in the mid-90s and features a six-pitch arsenal, helping him to a 2.21 ERA since the start of 2022. Given his age and recent performance, Imai should draw plenty of attention this offseason.”<\/p>\n

Imai does appear bigger than the listed 154 pounds, but he’s not a tall guy. His stuff is great, though, and he’s been one of the best pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball for years.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

A lot of teams will be after him, including probably the Dodgers and Giants. But Imai would certainly be of use to the Cubs if they can figure out a way to land him.<\/p>\n

More MLB news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cubs can make up for Kyle Tucker loss by signing Japanese star, writes ESPN’s Jeff Passan originally appeared…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":371779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[5407,1271,32581,5605,1266,62,178619,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-371778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-chicago-cubs","10":"tag-jeff-passan","11":"tag-kyle-tucker","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tatsuya-imai","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115531705519221122","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}