The San Diego Padres are heading into an offseason where the rotation sits front and center, and one of the more intriguing names tied to them is Chicago Cubs All-Star left-hander Shota Imanaga.
Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly put the Padres at the top of Imanaga’s list of possible landing spots, pointing to how much turnover could hit San Diego’s staff. “Basically the entire Padres rotation will be free agents after this season.
That might sound like hyperbole, but it's not,” he wrote. “So essentially, every free-agent pitcher makes sense as a fit for the Padres.
Imanaga - who has five shutout innings in his career at Petco Park - is among them.”
That kind of fit makes sense for a club trying to build on a strong second half of the 2026 season and turn a resilient 91-71 finish into something more in 2027. The Padres know where the priority lies: starting pitching.
Last season, San Diego didn’t have multiple dependable starters it could lean on. If that pattern repeats, it will be hard for the Padres to push where they want to go. Adding Imanaga would be one way to start changing that.
The 33-year-old is set to reach free agency this winter after complex team and player options were declined following the 2025 season. Chicago then extended a $22 million qualifying offer, and Imanaga accepted it.
His run with the Cubs has spanned three seasons, bringing plenty of peaks and valleys along the way. In Chicago, he has compiled a 35-21 record with a 3.45 ERA, 465 strikeouts and a 1.04 WHIP across 492.1 innings in 86 games. He originally signed a four-year, $53 million deal with the Cubs in 2024.
What happens next in Chicago remains uncertain, but a split is clearly possible. If the Cubs do move on, San Diego could be in the mix for a pitcher who has built a strong résumé despite the up-and-down ride.
Imanaga’s market is expected to land in the one- to three-year range, with an AAV projected between $15 million and $22 million. He wouldn’t arrive as a true No. 1, but he would give the Padres the kind of dependable No. 2 or No. 3 starter they sorely need in a rotation built for postseason ambitions.
In 2026, Imanaga went 11-10 with a 3.77 ERA and 174 strikeouts over 174.1 innings.
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