The Chicago Cubs have been very active in the Japanese free agent market in recent years. 

They signed Seiya Suzuki to a five-year, $85 million deal in March 2022, and then agreed to a four-year, $53 million contract with Shota Imanaga in 2024. 

The $85 million that the Cubs gave Suzuki was the largest contract for a Japanese position player to the MLB at the time. Masataka Yoshida of the Boston Red Sox has since passed that mark after signing a five-year, $90 million deal in December of 2022. 

Given the Cubs' continued interest in Japanese players over the past few offseasons, look for the front office to be active in negotiations with several players posted from overseas. On Thursday afternoon, two more Japanese players were posted to the MLB. 

Infielder Kazuma Okamoto of the Yomiuri Giants and pitcher Kona Takahashi of the Seibu Lions were posted by their respective teams. The latter could be a target for the Cubs this offseason. 

Chicago is already showing interest in one Japanese pitcher in Tatsuya Imai. However, the price to sign him is not going to be cheap. MLB Trade Rumors predicts a six-year, $150 million contract for Imai this offseason. 

For that reason, this could turn out to be another 2023 situation all over for the Cubs. Instead of aggressively pursuing Yoshinobu Yamamoto during that offseason, the front office opted for a much more affordable option in Imanaga. 

The same scenario could play out in 2025, with the Cubs potentially allowing another team to sign Imai and instead going after Takahashi. That’s because Takahashi will cost a lot cheaper than Imai will.

Takahashi is also on the older side, similar to Imanaga when he was coming out of Japan. The right-hander will turn 29 years old in February.  

Nonetheless, this is a pitcher who has a ton of experience pitching at the highest level in Japan. He played 11 seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball League and had a career 3.39 ERA with five shutouts and 1,043 strikeouts over his time there. 

The best season of his NPB career came back in 2023 with the Seibu Lions. He finished that year with a 2.21 ERA, four complete games, two shutouts, and 120 strikeouts across 155 innings pitched. That 2.21 ERA was the second-lowest in the Japan Pacific League that year, only behind Yamamoto’s 1.21 ERA. 

Now, Takahashi is definitely a work in progress. His fastball needs some work, and analysts believe he might only get a Minor League deal this winter. But the Cubs could be a team that takes a chance on him. 

He primarily uses a five-pitch mix on the mound, and his splitter whiff rate to right-handed batters was upward of 40% last year. Although he doesn’t get much swing-and-miss on his fastball, Chicago has a history of developing pitchers. 

So, Takahashi might be on the Cubs’ radar this offseason. It will all depend on whether they want to pivot away from Imai.