Since I heard the news the other day, I’ve been practicing my pronunciation of Shota Imanaga, the Cubs newest free agent pitcher. Okay, he hasn’t signed on the dotted line, but three baseball bigfoots have said the signing is imminent, and rather than linking to some nobody with zero credibility I’m linking to the mlb.com story.

They’ve also crammed the story with stats and analytics that will make every Cub fan drool. Some of the experts have even seen him pitch in the WBC-that’s good enough for me.

Shōta Imanaga, Cubs working towards deal (source) (mlb.com)

I’m glad the Cubs are signing him, but my expectations are muted, if they can be. The Cubs history of first-year free agents from Japan isn’t anything to write home about. I happen to believe first impressions do matter-even if the money doled out isn’t as ridiculous as what the Mets gave Francisco Lindor. And I like Frankie and Carlos Correa. There is no guarantee that either the Mets or Twins will benefit from signing either player the way the Rangers did from Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.

But if the Cubs do sign Shota in the before CubCon, they’ll finally have something to celebrate.