Detroit Tigers, Veteran Pitcher Kenta Maeda Agree to Multi-Year Contract

Kenta Maeda inked a two-year deal with the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, according to multiple reports, giving the club a replacement for Eduardo Rodriguez.

The Detroit Tigers have signed free agent pitcher Kenta Maeda, the New York Post's Jon Heyman first reported Sunday night. ESPN's Jeff Passan and others later confirmed the initial report.

According to Passan, Maeda will earn $24 million over the course of his new two-year contract. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported that the deal has been agreed upon, but it is still pending a physical, which is scheduled for Monday.

Reports first surfaced last week that Maeda was receiving interest from the Tigers, as well as the Minnesota Twins.

Maeda spent the past four seasons with the Twins, which came off the back of his four seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 35-year-old is now eight years removed from his highly-productive career in Nippon Professional Baseball.

Since joining MLB, Maeda is 65-49 with a 3.92 ERA, 1.140 WHIP, 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings and an 8.6 WAR. He finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2016, and he was the runner-up for AL Cy Young in his first season with Minnesota in 2020.

Tommy John surgery knocked Maeda out for the entire 2022 season, but he bounced back with a solid campaign this summer.

Maeda went 6-8 across 20 starts in 2023, finishing the season with a 4.23 ERA, 1.169 WHIP, 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings and a 1.1 WAR. The righty spent nearly two months on the injured list in May and June, then posted a 3.36 ERA and 1.087 WHIP upon his return.

The Tigers now have a reliable veteran to pencil into their rotation, which was apparently high on their list of priorities entering the offseason. Detroit dealt right-hander Michael Lorenzen to the Philadelphia Phillies at the MLB Trade Deadline, and All-Star lefty Eduardo Rodriguez opted out of his contract earlier this fall.

Youngsters Tarik Skubal, Reese Olson, Matt Manning and Sawyer Gipson-Long all showed promise in 2023, but Maeda provides some much-needed experience atop the pitching staff for 2024.

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