Brewers’ division rival expected to lose major rotation piece in 2025-26 offseason

The last time Milwaukee Brewers fans saw Shota Imanaga, he was walking off the mound after a messy outing in Game 2 of the NLDS.

In fact, that performance was so disastrous that the Chicago Cubs elected to keep Imanaga sidelined in the decisive Game 5, despite the fact that he was scheduled to start on full rest. The Brewers, of course, eliminated Chicago in that game, and it appears that the Cubs' relationship with the Japanese southpaw never recovered.

The Cubs then surprisingly declined his three-year team option, which Imanaga responded to by declining his own player option (it was a complicated contract), making the 32-year-old a free agent.

The wait has been to see if Imanaga would accept the qualifying offer Chicago attached to him, and new reports suggest he won't. Given the way Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has been speaking about Imanaga at the General Manager Meetings this week in Las Vegas, it appears he's as good as gone.

Shota Imanaga's departure creates massive hole in Cubs' rotation for 2026

It's not like the Brewers have needed any help beating the Cubs over the past five years, but the loss of Imanaga is going to stretch Chicago's thin rotation even thinner come 2026.

Cade Horton is, admittedly, an excellent young starter who should front the rotation as long as he's healthy... which he wasn't during the Cubs' postseason run. Then there's Matthew Boyd, who had a great 2025 campaign before faltering down the stretch. Oh, and prior to 2025, he hadn't thrown more than 100 innings in a season since 2019. Surely there's nothing to worry about there.

The red flags continue the deeper you look. Justin Steele has had great seasons, but he made four bad starts in April before undergoing elbow surgery and sitting out for the remainder of the 2025 campaign. Jameson Taillon looked good in the playoffs, but he's 34 years old and hasn't made 30 starts once since signing in Chicago.

Former Brewer Colin Rea is a fine depth option, but he's currently projected as the team's No. 5 starter next year, and that's assuming everyone mentioned above is healthy. No wonder the Crew beat these guys in the postseason.

Imanaga, for all of his homer-related troubles, was a consistent presence in the rotation for Chicago since coming over from Japan prior to the 2024 season. It's a wonder why they didn't retain him at such a reasonable price, and now the Cubs will have to replace him and beef up their depth in the same offseason, all while accounting for the loss of Kyle Tucker.

Good luck with that.