It’s Tuesday here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Thanks for stopping by this evening. It’s always good to see a friendly face. There’s
no cover charge tonight. We still have a few tables available. The show will start shortly. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Tonight was a great night for all the Brewers haters like myself, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a complete game three-hitter as the Dodgers beat the Brewers, 5-1 in the National League Championship Series. Jackson Chourio led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run off of Yamamoto and the Brewers only had two more hits the rest of the way. It was the first postseason complete game since Justin Verlander threw one in the ALCS in 2017. So eight years!
Last night, I just asked you to grade the Cubs 2025 season. The vote was overwhelming as 84 percent of you gave them a “B.”
Here’s the part with the music and the movies. You can skip that if you want. You won’t hurt my feelings.
Tonight we’re featuring pianist Hiromi Uehara in Vienna in 2011. She’s joined by Anthony Jackson on bass and Steve Smith on drums. This is “Voice.”
If you like your jazz to punch you in the face, this one is for you.
I don’t normally write on movies on Tuesday nights, but I was so wrapped up in the upcoming BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic that I forgot to mention the passing of Diane Keaton. Keaton was best-remembered as the title character in Annie Hall and as Faye in the Godfather Trilogy, as well as movies like Something’s Gotta Give and the Father of the Bride films with Steve Martin. Personally, I went to see Manhattan Murder Mystery with my wife on our first date, so that film of Keaton’s holds special meaning for me.
Her role in Annie Hall also made Keaton a style icon and she set of trend of menswear-inspired clothes that became her signature look.
If you want to share your favorite Diane Keaton roles in the comments, please do so.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and the movies.
The Cubs have a decision upcoming on whether to exercise the team option on Shōta Imanaga’s contract. So tonight’s question is simple: Should the Cubs pick up Imanaga’s team option?
But while the question is simple, the contract that Imanaga signed when he came over from Japan is anything but. Imanaga signed a four-year, $53 million deal, but there were some complicated team and player options in there.
The simple part is that the Cubs now have a three-year, $57 million option that they can trigger right now. That works out to $20 million in 2026 and 2027 and $17 million in 2028.
However, the the Cubs decline the option, Imanaga does not necessarily become a free agent. Imanaga can then exercise a one-year, $15 million player option for next year. If he does that, Imanaga would also have a $15 million player option for 2027.
If the Cubs decline Imanaga’s option and Imanaga declines his player option, then he would become a free agent. The Cubs could then make him a qualifying offer of around $22 million that Imanaga could accept and return for 2026 and become a free agent in 2027. Or he could leave as a free agent and the Cubs would get a draft pick if Imanaga were to signe elsewhere.
There’s also another team option for a two-year deal after next season should Imanaga exercise his player option for 2026, but let’s not worry about that tonight.
Back in July and August, it seemed like a n0-brainer that the Cubs would pick up Imanaga’s three-year club option. But Imanaga struggled in September with a 6.51 ERA and pitched so poorly in the playoffs that the Cubs didn’t dare start him in the crucial Game 5 of the Division Series in Milwaukee.
Of course, you know what went wrong with Imanaga at the end of the year: he gave up way too many home runs. In 27.2 innings in September this year, he gave up ten home runs. He gave up three more in just 6.2 innings in the playoffs. That’s way too many for any pitcher.
Of course, Imanaga was pretty good for the Cubs last season and for the first four months of 2025, although he was hurt for a good chunk of this past year. So is the past six weeks a sign of what Imanaga is to be over the next few years? Or was it just a poorly-timed slump?
The Imanaga of 2024 and the first half of 2025 is clearly worth the money in that three-year extension. The Imanaga in September and October is probably someone a team wants to replace on their roster. Which is the real Imanaga going forward?
Thank you for stopping by. We hope you had a good time. Please get home safely. Tell your friends about us. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow evening for more BCB After Dark.
