{"id":488110,"date":"2026-01-02T23:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/488110\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T23:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:04:19","slug":"cubs-predicted-to-poach-astros-ace-after-missing-out-on-tatsuya-imai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/488110\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs predicted to poach Astros ace after missing out on Tatsuya Imai"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/us\/mlb\/houston-astros\/news\/cubs-predicted-poach-astros-ace-after-missing-tatsuya-imai\/3722ff1d280472bdb3856eed?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=appeared_on\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Cubs predicted to poach Astros ace after missing out on Tatsuya Imai;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Cubs predicted to poach Astros ace after missing out on Tatsuya Imai<\/a> originally appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/us?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=appeared_on\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The Sporting News;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Preferred Source by clicking here;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/us\/mlb\/chicago-cubs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Chicago Cubs;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Chicago Cubs<\/a> did what they had to do by bringing back Shota Imanaga on the qualifying offer, but honestly, that move alone doesn\u2019t change much about how this team should feel.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>If Chicago has any real goals for 2026, especially with Kyle Tucker likely leaving, it has to add more.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s exactly why Rowan Kavner of FOX Sports floated the idea of the Cubs landing Framber Valdez, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/us\/mlb\/houston-astros\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Houston Astros;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Houston Astros<\/a> free agent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBringing back Shota Imanaga on the qualifying offer helps stabilize the group,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/stories\/mlb\/whats-next-after-imai-signing-what-best-fits-top-remaining-free-agent-starters\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Kavner wrote;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Kavner wrote<\/a>. \u201cIf the Cubs have dreams of doing anything of significance in 2026 \u2014 especially if they lose Kyle Tucker \u2014 they need more than that. Adding a frontline arm, whether by spending or via trade, is one route to take.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kavner hit it on the head regarding the situation.<\/p>\n<p>Imanaga gives the Cubs great innings with above-average stuff, but he\u2019s not the type of arm that makes them contenders in the NL. Valdez might not be either without other moves, but he gets them closer.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>If Tucker ends up leaving, the Cubs have to go out and spend some money. Replacing Tucker would be impossible with who is on the market, but pitching never hurts. Valdez would immediately slot in as the ace of this staff and give Chicago a legitimate one-two in its rotation.<\/p>\n<p>More Astros news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cubs predicted to poach Astros ace after missing out on Tatsuya Imai originally appeared on The Sporting News.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":374624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1271,11315,2382,5605,1266,131711,220288,5435,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-488110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-chicago-cubs","9":"tag-framber-valdez","10":"tag-houston-astros","11":"tag-kyle-tucker","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-qualifying-offer","14":"tag-rowan-kavner","15":"tag-shota-imanaga","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115828009665352438","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488110","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=488110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}