Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs and Dominican shortstop prospect Fernando Cruz reportedly reached a $4 million contract Monday.

Jesse Borek and Jesus Cano of MLB.com reported the Cubs used the vast majority of their $5.1 million pool money to sign the 17-year-old, who is the No. 4 ranked international prospect.

Cruz is known as a tantalizing prospect with 20-homer potential at the MLB level, along with all the makings of a stalwart defensive player at shortstop.

The Cubs will have plenty of time to allow Cruz to develop in the minors after signing Dansby Swanson to a seven-year contract ahead of last season. By the time Swanson's deal ends, Cruz will be in his early 20s and potentially ready to take over as the heir apparent.

Cruz is the fourth noteworthy shortstop to be added to Chicago's minor league system. Matt Shaw is currently in Double-A and was a first-round pick in last July's draft. Shaw could wind up shifting over to second base in the majors, especially with MLB.com projecting him for a 2025 debut.

The Cubs signed Dominican shortstop Jefferson Rojas two years ago using $1 million of their international pool money and has been impressive despite being younger than most of his competition in the minors at age 18. They also dipped into the international pool to sign Derniche Valdez out of the Dominican Republic last offseason.

While one could question the Cubs for signing three straight shortstops using their pool money in as many offseasons, the minor league developmental system can be a crapshoot. Even if all of their top prospects wind up developing to the peak of their potential, they could be used as foundations for a trade or wind up changing positions as they develop.

It appears Shōta Imanaga really just wanted to be a Chicago Cub.

MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported during an appearance on 670 The Score that "there was at least one team willing to more than double the guarantee" Imanaga received from the Cubs.

Imanaga agreed to a multi-year deal with the Cubs on Tuesday with an average annual value in the $15 million range, MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported.

It's unclear which team was willing to offer Imanaga a larger deal.

The Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels were once considered candidates to land the Japanese pitcher. However, Heyman reported earlier this week that the Giants and Angels were no longer considered landing spots.

Imanaga had spent his entire career in Nippon Professional Baseball before signing with the Cubs, suiting up for the Yokohama BayStars from 2016-2023. He has been one of the best pitchers in Japan in that span, posting a 3.18 ERA and 1,021 strikeouts in 1,002.2 innings across 165 appearances.

The 30-year-old is coming off arguably the best season of his career in 2023, posting a 7-4 record with a 2.80 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 188 strikeouts in 148 innings across 22 games.

Imanaga was also a member of Japan's gold medal-winning squad at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He helped Japan defeat the United States in the gold medal game, allowing four hits and one earned run in two innings.

It's unclear why Imanaga was so drawn to the Cubs, but he'll now join a 2024 rotation that includes Kyle Hendricks, Justin Steele and Jameson Taillon.

The Cubs enter the 2024 campaign hoping to bounce back from an 83-79 finish to the 2023 season. The team has missed the playoffs in each of the last three years and in four of the last five seasons.

The Chicago Cubs have made their first major move of the offseason, as USA Today's Bob Nightengale reports that the team agreed to a tentative deal with Japanese pitcher Shōta Imanaga.

The left-hander reportedly will undergo a physical in Chicago on Thursday to make the deal official.

After landing Imanaga, Chicago's pitching rotation is set to look like this for the 2024 season:

Starters: Justin Steele, Shōta Imanaga, Kyle Hendricks, Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad

Relievers: Mark Leiter Jr., Daniel Palencia, Drew Smyly, Luke Little, Julian Merryweather,

Closer: Adbert Alzolay

Imanaga spent eight seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball before his posting by the Yokohama DeNA BayStars this winter. While he hasn't received the same amount of attention as his countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the southpaw is a solid addition to a Chicago team that has had a relatively quiet offseason outside of hiring Craig Counsell as its next manager.

Per MLB.com's Thomas Harrigan, Imanaga had an ERA of 3.18 over his NPB career, but he posted a 2.53 ERA with 306 strikeouts over the past two seasons. The 30-year-old starred for Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and started and won the gold-medal game against Team USA.

Imanaga is joining a Cubs pitching staff that ranked 14th in the majors with a collective 4.08 ERA last season. Chicago finished second in the NL Central with an 83-79 record but fell short of the playoffs for the third straight year.

Perhaps landing Imanaga will help kick off more offseason moves for the Cubs as they try to retool for a run in 2024.

Cody Bellinger and agent Scott Boras are holding firm on their valuation for the free-agent slugger, according to ESPN's Jesse Rogers.

Rogers reported Boras is lobbying "for a package well over $200 million" and cited an MLB executive who isn't expecting a lot of movement on that front for now.

"Boras is sticking to the money that was mentioned at the start of the free agency market," the exec said. "He will take it well into the winter. Not budging."

Bellinger is a former MVP and a two-time All-Star who had 26 home runs, 97 RBI and a .307/.356/.525 slash line in 2023. And at 28, any age-related decline should be well down the road.

His value looks pretty stable until you recall the valleys of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Over those two years, he batted just .193 and had 244 strikeouts in 819 plate appearances. The Los Angeles Dodgers non-tendered him in November 2022, and he signed what was basically a short-term prove-it contract with the Chicago Cubs.

Playing the waiting game with valuations of this magnitude has worked out for Boras clients in the past. It wasn't until February 2019 when Bryce Harper got his 13-year, $330 million offer from the Philadelphia Phillies. The Carlos Correa saga last offseason didn't end until January and still saw the shortstop collect $200 million.

The risk is obviously that interested suitors could be less inclined to pony up if they sense nobody else is coming close to Bellinger and Boras' asking price. The closer Opening Day gets, the more leverage the veteran outfielder loses because he'll ultimately have to sign somewhere and accept whatever's the best deal on the table.

For now, there's no reason for Bellinger and Boras to panic or significantly lower their demand. That will change if he remains unsigned going into the spring.

It appears the Toronto Blue Jays are the leaders to land free agent slugger Cody Bellinger.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that the Toronto Blue Jays have "emerged as the favorite" for Bellinger, although the Chicago Cubs do remain a candidate for his services.

Bellinger just wrapped up a one-year deal with the Cubs following a six-season tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is a two-time All-Star, a World Series champion and was the 2019 NL MVP.

Bellinger had a resurgent 2023 season on the North Side, hitting .307 with 26 home runs and 97 RBIs. He also had 20 stolen bases, finished 10th in MVP voting and won a Silver Slugger award.

This sets him up to get quite the payday this offseason and Toronto has seemingly been looking to throw some cash around to improve the team. The Blue Jays were in on two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani until the end of his free agency, and Bellinger would be a strong pickup following this.

Toronto went 89-73 in 2023 and reached the playoffs, falling to the Minnesota Twins in the Wild Card round. This was Toronto's third postseason appearance in four seasons, but the team has failed to win a playoff round during this run.

The AL East also appears to be an arms race, with the New York Yankees acquiring Juan Soto, the Baltimore Orioles looking like a formidable force for the foreseeable future and the Boston Red Sox being in on Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Signing Bellinger would help the Blue Jays keep pace and potentially grab a division crown in the near future.