The first month of the season is complete and there’s been a fair share of surprises along the way. There’s a better sense of how teams are doing, especially ones who made significant offseason moves. While some signings have worked out well, others tend to backfire for plenty of reasons. Mark Feinsend of MLB.com asked 24 baseball executives which player was the best offseason signing. Surprisingly, Feinsend collected a wide variety of answers as seen below.
Shota Imanaga Named Best Free Agent of the Offseason
Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs (9 votes)
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (4 votes)
Jack Flaherty, Detroit Tigers (1 vote)
Sonny Gray, St. Louis Cardinals (1 vote)
Jordan Hicks, San Francisco Giants (1 vote)
Reynaldo Lopez, Atlanta Braves (1 vote)
Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals (1 vote)
Albert Suarez, Baltimore Orioles (1 vote)
Spencer Turnbull, Philadelphia Phillies (1 vote)
The only other player named by multiple executives was Shohei Ohtani. The remaining two votes came from the Tyler Glasnow trade/extension and Phillies extension to Zack Wheeler. For Imanaga on the other hand, he’s performed very well for the Chicago Cubs. Going into his start against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, Imanaga is 5-0 with a stellar 0.78 ERA in 34 2/3 innings with 25 strikeouts. In his last start against the New York Mets, the left-hander tossed seven scoreless innings to earn a 1-0 win. He allowed three hits and a walk while striking out seven.
The Cubs signed him to a four-year, $53 million deal, one that can be worth up to $80 million depending on multiple factors. This particular signing, however, is on well it’s way to becoming a steal for Chicago.
Imanga Gives the Cubs a One-Two Punch
It’s one thing to have Imanaga but it’s better now that Justin Steele is back from a hamstring injury. Having them in the fold makes for a strong one-two punch that the Cubs need for the starting rotation.
“Obviously, it’s fantastic when you have a really good No. 1, No. 2,” Cubs president Jed Hoyer said to Jon Greenberg of The Athletic. “But I do think that setting us up to win every single night, I think that’s really what we’ve done pretty well.”
But getting Steele back for his first start in over a month was important. He was on a pitch limit despite leaving the scoreless game with two outs with a runner on first in the fifth inning. As for Imanaga, he’s the 14th pitcher in the last 100 years to allow just three earned runs or fewer over his first six starts of the season.
Shota Imanaga is the 14th pitcher in the last 100 years to allow just 3 earned runs or fewer over his first 6 starts in a season.@Cubs | #YouHaveToSeeIt pic.twitter.com/4XCJJou18p
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) May 4, 2024
Potential Award Winner?
With the ways things are going, Imanaga is becoming a strong favorite for the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Dodgers offseason addition Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the runaway favorite heading into the season. The right-hander has now hurled 12 scoreless innings over his last two starts. He’s 3-1 with 42 strikeouts while posting a 2.91 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. Another early-season favorite, Jackson Chourio, has slipped mainly due to his inconsistent play. Since April 16, Chourio is slashing .140/.196/.233 while striking out at a 38.3 percent rate.
Main Photo: © Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
