Red Sox's Former Interest in Cubs Ace Could Lead to Offseason Signing Now

Red Sox's Former Interest in Cubs Ace Could Lead to Offseason Signing Now originally appeared on NESN . Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here . A lot of the focus for the Boston Red Sox in the early stages of the offseason, at least from the fan base, has been centered around how they're going to improve on the offensive side of the baseball.  I don't disagree with that at all, as the Red Sox have a need to improve in that area. However, it's also fair to mention that Boston is going to be a team that tries to improve on the mound as well. With the Red Sox being a contending team, squads can never have enough starting pitching, specifically, and with the possibility of losing Sonny Gray, it feels very likely that Craig Breslow is going to do what's necessary to add a starter.  According to the latest report, there was a player that the Red Sox were interested in a couple of years ago when he came over to America. That guy is none other than Shota Imanaga, the Chicago Cubs' left-handed free agent. "Even if the rotation looks to be a strong suit, you can never count out [Craig Breslow] from adding more rotation depth, particularly if Gray signs elsewhere," Ian Browne wrote .  "One name that intrigues me? Shota Imanaga. Breslow was really fond of him when he was scouting him for the Cubs three years ago. The Cubs wound up signing him, but Breslow was in his early stages with the Red Sox at that point." Imanaga is a very difficult player to evaluate at times because of his questionable number of home runs allowed each year.  He's coming off a year in which he allowed 35 bombs, and it wasn't like he was much better in the previous two seasons, allowing 27 and 31.  When he came over from Japan, there were many questions about whether he was going to keep the ball in the yard. Unfortunately, that question is still there, and at 33 years old, it doesn't look like that's going to change. More Red Sox Latest Red Sox news Fenway Park fan guide: What to know before you go Complete history of Red Sox championships