Cubs sign the right to veteran Kenta Maeda to a minor league contract, as reported for the first time by Japanese News Outlet Daily Sports. Skipper Cubs Craig Counsell confirmed the signature of the team’s beat today (link via Vinnie Duber for the Chicago Sun-Totes). Maeda, a customer from Boras Corporation, was published last week by the Tigers.
“He succeeded,” said Counsell about Maeda today. “He had trouble. … He is a player with whom you must have constant conversations and see where we can make adjustments and see where he is.”
Maeda, 37, has a long history of success in the Great League. He signed with the Dodgers via the MLB / NPB publication system before the 2016 season and spent the next four years with Los Angeles, launching a height of 3.87 in 589 rounds between the rotation of the dodgers and the enclosure of the lifts.
During the 2019-20 off-season Graterole Brusdar and outfall Luke Raley to dodgers in exchange for Maeda and the prospect of capture Camargo Jair. Maeda was sensational for Minnesota in the 2020 season with a drop in the pandemic, pulling 66 2/3 ball rounds of 2.70 ERA with a withdrawal rate of 32.3% and a walking rate of 4.3%. However, he came out at a slow start in 2021 and eventually required Tommy John surgery. This procedure eliminated all its 2022 campaign.
Maeda returned to the Twins for the 2023 season – the last year of her original eight -year pact with the Dodgers. It was an unequal year, Maeda stood out early and again struck the list of injured after having served 10 points for the Yankees at the end of April. He made a triceps injury in June and looked a lot like the 2020 version of himself; During its 88 2/3 rounds that year, Maeda launched a 3.36 MPM with a 29% withdrawal rate and a walking rate of 7%.
Upon entering the 2023-24 offseason, Maeda appeared to a solid candidate for a multi-year agreement. The Tigers signed it for a two -year -old $ 24 million contract which seemed eminently reasonable given its solid finish in season 23 and its broader success of success. Instead, he turned out to be a misstep.
Maeda ate 112 1/3 rounds for tigers in 2024, but fought considerably as a starter. Detroit moved it to the enclosure of the lifts in early July, and Maeda quietly turned his season, at least to a measure. He made a dozen appearances as a long -term lifter in the next two months, presenting an MPM of 3.86 with a 23.8% withdrawal rate and a walking rate of 4.1% in 42 rounds.
It was a great series of quality contributions from a right -hander who knew this kind of long role of relief / swingman a lot. The Tigers gave him a last departure at the end of September, and Maeda was scored for five points in 4 2/3 rounds. Overall, Maeda finished the 2024 season with a macabre average of 6.09 points deserved.
The 2025 spring training brought a reason for a certain careful optimism. Maeda’s 4.91 era in 14 2/3 rounds was not much to examine, but it posted a gargantuan withdrawal rate of 39.7% against a microscopic rate of 1.7%. This, associated with certain health problems elsewhere in the rotation, has earned Maeda another chance of carving out a role in the Staff of Detroit.
It didn’t go well.
Maeda was deployed as a lifter of several rounds and produced races in four of her seven appearances. As the tigers appointed him for assignment, he was seated on an MPM of 7.88 with a retirement rate of 18.6% in career and a walking rate of 14% in career. He has never been a hard launcher, but the medium quick ball of 90.2 MPH this year is a career.
The rotation of the cubs at the moment is quite struck. Justin Steele was released for the year after undergoing UCL surgery. Shota Imanaga is on the list of 15 days injured due to a tension in the hamstrings. Javier Assad Open the year on the IL with an oblique tension, began an assignment of rehabilitation at the end of last month and was withdrawn after having experienced a renewal of discomfort. Subsequent imagery has revealed an oblique grade strain of grade 2. It is on the 60 -day Il and will not come back anytime soon. Cubs rotation currently includes Jameson Taillon,, Matthew Boyd,, Colin Rea,, Ben Brown and the best hope Cade Horton.
Maeda is hardly a guarantee of strengthening the staff, whether as a long starter or lifter, but there is little trouble in the cubs which rise to a free look at the experienced right -hander. Tigers are in the grip for the salary of $ 10 million from Maeda this year, minus the part of the minimum of $ 780,000 MLB for each time it spends on the list of large leagues from another team. For the moment, it seems likely that Maeda will go to Triple-A and seek to get back on the right track. It could be an option if Chicago needs a start -up or a duration of the lift enclosure in the coming weeks.
