The Cubs are signing veteran righty Kenta Maeda to a minor league contract, as first reported by Japanese news outlet Daily Sports. Cubs skipper Craig Counsell confirmed the signing to the team’s beat today (link via Vinnie Duber for the Chicago Sun-Times). Maeda, a Boras Corporation client, was released by the Tigers last week.
“He has had success,” Counsell said of Maeda today. “He’s struggled. … It’s a player you’ve got to have constant conversations with and see where we can make some adjustments and see where he’s at.”
Maeda, 37, has a lengthy big league track record of success. He signed with the Dodgers via the MLB/NPB posting system ahead of the 2016 season and spent the next four years with Los Angeles, pitching to a sharp 3.87 ERA in 589 innings between the Dodgers’ rotation and bullpen.
In the 2019-20 offseason, the Twins sent righty Brusdar Graterol and outfielder Luke Raley to the Dodgers in exchange for Maeda and catching prospect Jair Camargo. Maeda was sensational for Minnesota in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, firing 66 2/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball with a 32.3% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate. His got out to a sluggish start in 2021, however, and wound up requiring Tommy John surgery. That procedure knocked out his entire 2022 campaign.
Maeda returned to the Twins for the 2023 season — the final year of his original eight-year pact with the Dodgers. It was an uneven year, with Maeda stumbling early and hitting the injured list again after serving up 10 runs to the Yankees in late April. He returned a triceps injury in June and looked very much like the 2020 version of himself; in his final 88 2/3 innings that year, Maeda pitched to a 3.36 ERA with a 29% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate.
Entering the 2023-24 offseason, Maeda appeared a strong candidate for a multi-year deal. The Tigers signed him to a two-year, $24MM contract that seemed eminently reasonable given his strong finish to the ’23 season and his broader track record of success. Instead, it proved to be a misstep.
Maeda ate 112 1/3 innings for the Tigers in 2024 but struggled considerably as a starter. Detroit moved him to the bullpen in early July, and Maeda quietly turned his season around, at least to an extent. He made a dozen appearances as a long reliever over the next couple months, pitching to a 3.86 ERA with a 23.8% strikeout rate and 4.1% walk rate in 42 innings.
It was a nice run of quality contributions from a right-hander who is plenty familiar with that sort of long relief/swingman role. The Tigers gave him one final start in late September, and Maeda was tagged for five runs in 4 2/3 innings. Overall, Maeda finished the 2024 season with a grisly 6.09 earned run average.
Spring training 2025 brought reason for some cautious optimism. Maeda’s 4.91 ERA in 14 2/3 innings wasn’t much to look at, but he posted a gargantuan 39.7% strikeout rate against a microscopic 1.7% walk rate. That, coupled with some health troubles elsewhere in the rotation, earned Maeda another chance to carve out a role on Detroit’s staff.
It didn’t go well.
Maeda was deployed as a multi-inning reliever and yielded runs in four of his seven appearances. By the time the Tigers designated him for assignment, he was sitting on a 7.88 ERA with a career-low 18.6% strikeout rate and a career-worst 14% walk rate. He’s never been a hard thrower, but this year’s 90.2 mph average fastball is a career-low.
The Cubs’ rotation at the moment is quite banged up. Justin Steele is out for the year after undergoing UCL surgery. Shota Imanaga is on the 15-day injured list due to a hamstring strain. Javier Assad opened the year on the IL with an oblique strain, began a rehab assignment late last month, and was pulled back after experiencing renewed discomfort. Subsequent imaging revealed a Grade 2 oblique strain. He’s on the 60-day IL and won’t return anytime soon. The Cubs’ rotation currently includes Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Colin Rea, Ben Brown and top prospect Cade Horton.
Maeda is hardly a guarantee to bolster the staff, whether as a starter or long reliever, but there’s little harm in the Cubs taking what amounts to a free look at the seasoned right-hander. The Tigers are on the hook for Maeda’s $10MM salary this year, minus the prorated portion of the $780K MLB minimum for any time he spends on another team’s big league roster. For now, it seems likely that Maeda will head to Triple-A and look to get back on track. He could be an option if Chicago needs a spot start or some length in the bullpen within the next few weeks.