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How, why Cubs' weird contract decision turned Shota Imanaga into a free agent after 3.28 ERA across 2 seasons

The Chicago Cubs may have overplayed their hand.

The result is that Japanese left-handed pitcher Shota Imanaga, who has a 3.28 ERA through his first two seasons with the Cubs, is now a surprise free agent.

ESPN's Jesse Rogers broke the news on Tuesday morning, and it's a tad complicated sequence of contract dominoes.

The Cubs had originally signed Imanaga to a four-year contract, of which he's through two seasons. Built into the contract was an option for Chicago, after the second season, to decide to tack a fifth year onto the end of the deal.

The Cubs, according to Rogers, chose to reject that chance at a fifth year.

That aspect of the contract wa

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