It’s not Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, or Shota Imanaga, but the Cubs have signed a pitcher out of Japan. Former DeNA Baystar Edwin Escobar is originally from Venezuela and was signed by the Rangers as a 17-year-old back in 2009 before being traded to the Giants organization a year later. He was traded to the Red Sox in 2014 as part of the Jake Peavy deal and made his MLB debut with Boston that same season.
Escobar tallied just two innings and was back in the minors the following season, then ended up with the Diamondbacks and got 23.