Yomiuri Giants Interested In Kenta Maeda

The Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball have interest in acquiring veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda, according to a report from Yahoo Sports Japan. Maeda, 37, indicated back in August that he plans to leave MLB and return to Japan for the 2026 season, where he hopes to find a role in NPB.

The veteran’s decision to leave MLB behind isn’t exactly a surprise given how difficult the past two seasons have been for him. After he struggled to a 6.09 ERA in 112 1/3 innings of work with the Tigers in 2024, he failed to make the club’s rotation out of Spring Training and opened the season as a long relief option out of the bullpen. He ultimately wound up making just seven appearances, however, and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits, six walks, a home run and three hit batsmen while striking out eight across eight innings of work. He was ultimately released in early May, bringing the two-year, $24MM contract between the sides to a disappointing end.

Since being released by Detroit, Maeda has pitched in the minor leagues for both the Cubs and Yankees this year. In 20 starts between those two organizations, he pitched to a 5.40 ERA in 100 innings at the Triple-A level, with a 19.5% strikeout rate against a 9.2% walk rate. With that said, he did improve a bit during his stint with the Yankees’ affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, as he posted a 4.64 ERA with a 21.5% strikeout rate and a 7.9% walk rate over his final eight starts of the season. He ended his stateside career on a positive note when he threw five scoreless innings against the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons and struck out five batters.

Weak as Maeda’s results at the big league level have been over the past two years, one shouldn’t forget that he was a quality starter for several years for the Dodgers and Twins after making his big league debut back in 2016. Through the end of his age-35 campaign in 2023, Maeda had posted a career 3.92 ERA and 3.74 FIP in 866 1/3 regular season innings in the majors to go along with a strong postseason resume that saw him pitch to a 3.24 ERA and strike out 26.8% of his opponents in 41 2/3 playoff innings.

That solid track record in the majors, of course, came after eight seasons with NPB’s Hiroshima Carp. After breaking out during the 2010 season at the age of 22, Maeda posted six consecutive seasons with an ERA of 2.60 or lower across 175 innings or more for the Carp, including an eye-popping 1.53 ERA in 206 1/3 innings across 29 starts during the 2012 season. He made five All-Star games for Hiroshima, but now it’s possible that he’ll join a new club in his return to NPB next year given Yomiuri’s interest in his services. Of course, it’s also possible that the Carp (or another club) could express interest in Maeda’s services once the NPB offseason begins later this month.