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The Detroit Tigers will be looking to bolster their pitching staff this offseason after they ranked 17th in the big leagues in 2023 with a 4.24 ERA. One arm who has been on their radar is free agent Kenta Maeda, who spent the last four years with the Minnesota Twins.
The Tigers already showed interest in the Japanese veteran earlier in the week and as Jon Morosi reported on Friday, talks with Maeda appear to be gaining traction. The 36-year-old first broke onto the scene with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016, inking an eight-year, $25 million deal after being posted in December of 2015.
Maeda was in Los Angeles until February 2020 when the Dodgers traded him to the Twins for Brusdar Graterol, Luke Raley, and a draft pick. Maeda has a respectable stint in Minny, pitching to an 18-14 record and 4.02 ERA in three seasons. He sat out all of 2022 due to injury.
While he's not a top-of-the-rotation guy, Maeda induces quite a bit of contact on the ground (39.8% GB rate) and does pound the strike zone, walking just 7% of the hitters he's faced in the Majors.
The former Hiroshima Toyo Carp star went 6-8 with a 4.23 ERA this past season for the Twins, making 20 starts. He struck out 117 in 104.1 innings while walking 28. Right now, the Tigers rotation consists of Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Reese Olson, and potentially Sawyer Gibson-Long. With Eduardo Rodriguez opting out, Maeda would be a nice addition. The Twins remain interested in a reunion with Maeda this winter as well.
