CHICAGO — As the Chicago Cubs try to take the next steps from a playoff bubble team to a consistent World Series contender, they will be keeping a close eye on the Japanese baseball industry. That doesn’t just mean maximizing the final three years of Seiya Suzuki’s $85 million contract and trying to get another meeting with Shohei Ohtani.
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Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer recently returned from a scouting trip to Japan to see a dynamic group of players that included ace pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, left-handed starter Shota Imanaga and slugging third baseman Munetaka Murakami. Those three players, along with Ohtani and Yu Darvish, helped Japan win the World Baseball Classic in March.
Yamamoto, 25, won Japan’s equivalent of the Cy Young Award in the past two seasons. New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was among the major-league officials sitting behind home plate when Yamamoto threw a no-hitter for the Orix Buffaloes earlier this month. In what’s expected to be his final season before entering the posting system created by Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball, Yamamoto has so far gone 14-6 with a 1.32 ERA.
After the New York Mets signed Kodai Senga to a five-year, $75 million contract last offseason, The Athletic’s Keith Law projected Yamamoto’s combination of youth, track record and potential might have commanded a six-year, $180 million deal in that market. Since leaving Japan, Senga (11-7, 2.95 ERA) has been one of the few bright spots for the underachieving Mets this season.
Imanaga, 30, is also expected to negotiate with major-league clubs this offseason through the posting system, according to MLB.com. Imanaga has thrown nearly 1,000 career innings for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, going 64-49 with a 1.114 WHIP.
11 K in 8 IP last night from Shōta Imanaga. Nasty.pic.twitter.com/3Ug0QIUJgm
— Shawn Spradling (@Shawn_Spradling) September 13, 2023
Murakami, 23, reportedly has a clause in his contract with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows that will put him into the posting system after the 2025 season. The left-handed hitter launched 56 home runs last season. His 432-foot homer off Merrill Kelly helped Japan beat Team USA in the WBC championship game.
Hoyer could not make this kind of international scouting trip when he took over for Theo Epstein after the 2020 season and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hoyer was joined by Nao Masamoto, the team’s longtime major-league video coordinator and Pacific liaison.
Hoyer’s visit to Japan was planned well in advance, as the middle of September is a relatively slower time in the Cubs’ front office. It just happened to coincide with the team’s brutal road trip to Coors Field and Arizona, where the Diamondbacks punctuated the Cubs’ 2-8 stretch with a three-game sweep last weekend. At this stage of the season, the Cubs have to trust the players who put them in a position to make the playoffs. But there will be changes coming this winter, and with so much talent on the horizon, Hoyer wanted to make connections and continue building relationships in Japan.
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“It’s a great baseball culture,” Hoyer said Tuesday at Wrigley Field. “Obviously, they have a lot of really good players. Making sure that’s a market that we are actively involved in is something that’s really important.”
(Photo of Yoshinobu Yamamoto at the World Baseball Classic in March: Christopher Pasatieri / Getty Images)
