Predicting where every Japanese WBC star will sign this offseason

While it has been more than eight months since Japan captured the World Baseball Classic title, the talent that carried that team to the championship is once again in the spotlight during this MLB offseason.

Three members of that Japanese team — Shota Imanaga, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — are among the most coveted players on the MLB free agent market this offseason. Imanaga is expected to be posted on Monday by the Yokohama BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, setting off another flurry of activity, following Yamamoto's posting by the Orix Buffaloes roughly a week ago. The duo is hoping to follow in the successful footsteps of Japanese players like Ohtani, who has become an icon on both sides of the Pacific as a two-time American League Most Valuable Player.

So where will the three Japanese superstars end up? Here are my predictions.

MLB prediction: Shota Imanaga will sign with the Chicago Cubs

Chicago has already shown it can be a spot where Japanese players can flourish, with Seiya Suzuki posting a combined 120 OPS+ in his two seasons playing at Wrigley Field and Kosuke Fukudome making his presence felt in the outfield at the corners of Clark and Addison before that.

All of that history, along with Chicago's reported interest in him and willingness to spend to improve its pitching this offseason, sets the foundation for Imanaga to don a Cubs uniform in 2023 and beyond.

MLBTradeRumors.com is predicting a five-year, $85 million deal (plus the posting fee to Yokohama) will be what it takes to land Imanaga. After the Cubs just missed out on the postseason in 2023, look for Chicago to continue to be aggressive this offseason by inking Imanaga.