The Detroit Tigers will look to improve their pitching staff this offseason after ranking 17th in the major leagues with a 4.24 ERA in 2023. Free agent Kenta Maeda, who spent the last four years with the Minnesota Twins, has been on their radar.
The Tigers expressed interest in the Japanese veteran earlier this week, and as Jon Morosi reported on Friday, negotiations with Maeda appear to be progressing. The 36-year-old debuted with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016, signing an eight-year, $25 million contract after being released in December of 2015.
Maeda was with the Dodgers until February 2020, when he was traded to the Twins in exchange for Brusdar Graterol, Luke Raley, and a draft pick. Maeda pitched in Minnesota for three seasons, compiling an 18-14 record and 4.02 ERA. Due to an injury, he missed the entire year of 2022.
While he’s not a top-of-the-rotation pitcher, Maeda does induce a lot of ground ball contact (39.8% GB rate) and pounds the strike zone, walking only 7% of batters he’s faced in the Majors.
This past season, the former Hiroshima Toyo Carp pitcher went 6-8 with a 4.23 ERA in 20 starts for the Twins. In 104.1 innings, he struck out 117 batters while walking 28. Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Reese Olson, and potentially Sawyer Gibson-Long are currently in the Tigers rotation. With Eduardo Rodriguez opting out, Maeda would be an excellent replacement. The Twins are still interested in reuniting with Maeda this winter.
Leave a Reply