Tatsuya Imai doesn't want to just join MLB, he wants to turn it on its head. Instead of joining the Dodgers’ growing roster of Japanese stars, he said he wants to beat Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki on the biggest stage. It was a declaration that instantly shifted the posting landscape that has been dominated by the Dodgers.
And it may have opened a surprising lane for the Chicago Cubs.
Speaking on the program Hodo Station, Imai said that while he’d enjoy playing alongside Japan’s biggest exports, the real prize is taking them down. That kind of competitive edge eliminates the idea of a West Coast superteam and puts the focus back on clubs with clear rotation needs and real opportunity. Few match that profile better than the Cubs.
Chicago has already been linked directly to Imai.
They need stability behind Justin Steele, and while their pitching lab hasn’t grabbed headlines the way it once did, it has quietly rebuilt arms with similar “rising fastball” traits. Analysts in Japan have compared Imai to Kodai Senga in how his heater plays at the top of the zone — exactly the kind of shape the Cubs’ development system is built to maximize.
There’s also the timing. The Cubs missed on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, cycled through patchwork rotation solutions last season, and watched their division tighten around them. Imai offers frontline upside without the nine-figure bidding war. He’s 29, coming off a Sawamura Award season with a 1.92 ERA and 178 strikeouts. And unlike many free-agent starters, he arrives without draft-pick compensation or durability red flags.
But the most important piece is motivation.
If Imai wants to challenge the Dodgers instead of joining them, the door swings wide for teams like the Cubs, who are competitive enough to matter, flexible enough to offer a real role, and motivated enough to act.
The Dodgers will make their pitch. Several contenders will too. But if Imai truly wants to stand opposite Ohtani and Yamamoto in October, Chicago suddenly looks like a landing spot that makes perfect baseball sense.
