The Tigers have made their first big splash of the offseason nabbing starting RHP Kenta Maeda from the Minnesota Twins.
According to Jon Heyman, Maeda will join division rival Detroit on a two-year deal with ESPN’s Jeff Passan noting the right-hander will earn in upwards of $24M.
Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press noted that the Tigers are expected to make the Maeda signing official on Monday after the 36-year-old passes a physical.
Maeda now joins a talented, yet inexperienced Tigers rotation that was in desperate need of a veteran arm to round things out, especially with the expected departure of Eduardo Rodriguez this offseason. As it stands right now, Maeda will more than likely slot in as the number two in the rotation behind lefty Tarik Skubal and ahead of Matt Manning, Reese Olson, and Casey Mize who is expected to make his return to the team after Tommy John kept him out for the entire 2023 season.
Posting a 4.23 ERA, 27.3% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate over 104 1/3 for the Twins just this past season, Scott Harris and Jeff Greenberg seemingly got good value on Maeda, perhaps stemming from the fact that the 36-year-old has had injury concerns over the past couple of seasons. This included Tommy John in 2022 and a triceps strain in 2023. Maeda is known for his ability to generate soft contact, but his strikeout rate is also worth mentioning. However, last season he did get hit a little harder, which might have given the Tigers pause in paying more for his services.
Maeda’s addition though could potentially establish a more serious Tigers team in the Japanese pitching market and set the stage for Yoshinobu Yamamoto whom the Tigers have shown interest in. If this were the case, Detroit could undoubtedly set themselves apart from the rest of the AL Central if they could win the sweepstakes for the 25-year-old ace.