This week, Brett and I got into the state of the NL Central, the vibe shifting wins on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the dominant looking start to the season for Shota Imanaga.
His strike-throwing has never been in question, nor has his propensity for giving up homers, but he started making far too many mistakes last season. That has been the case this spring as well, with opponents finding more barrels than you'd like to see.
The Chicago Cubs declined to pick up a three-year option on Imanaga's contract, which triggered Imanaga's player option (which he also declined), officially making him a free agent. He went 9-8 with a 3.73 ERA across 25 starts in Chicago this past season. While the Blue Jays did use Eric Lauer and Easton Lucas as left-handed starters in 2025, the team spent most of the year without a consistent left-handed presence in the rotation.
Right-hander Shane Bieber made the surprising call to exercise his $16MM player option with the Blue Jays rather than take a $4MM buyout and head into free agency yesterday. It's a move that leaves the Toronto rotation in much better shape than previously anticipated headed into free agency, as Bieber will now join Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, and Jose Berrios in the club's 2026 rotation.
