The next great thing from Japan may be headed to the United
States and the New York Yankees may be one of the teams involved in his
services. Whether Maeda will be the next Masahiro Tanaka or Kei Igawa remains
to be seen, and so does whether the Yankees will even be involved in his
potential bidding or not, but with this post we hope to at least come closer to
a decision on both fronts. Should the New York Yankees pursue Kenta Maeda this
offseason and add him to the stable of young starting pitchers vying for just
five starting rotation spots?
First and foremost Maeda will not command a Jordan
Zimmermann-esque free agent deal worth five-years and $110 million ($22 million
AAV) so the Japanese-born righty has that going for him. If the Hiroshima Carp
grant his wish to post him, and that’s a big “if” since Hiroshima has denied
his request in previous seasons, the starting pitching market would gain a
27-year old right-handed starting pitcher who pitched to a 97-67 record with a
2.39 ERA in eight seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League. Last
season Maeda posted a 15-8 record with a 2.09 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9
ratios in 206.1 innings pitched. Maeda has nice stats but does not figure or
project to be the next Tanaka or Yu Darvish in the Major Leagues, although he
is expected to be more competitive than Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kei Igawa.
If the Yankees were to sign Maeda they would be getting a
workhorse that I truly think at least compares to Wei-Yin Chen without the loss
of the 22nd overall draft pick in the 2016 MLB Draft. Also Maeda
would come at the cost of a $20 million maximum posting fee plus his contract
instead of giving up big time prospects in a potential trade, another plus for
New York. That’s the “good” about Maeda but the “bad” has Maeda, a small framed
pitcher at just 6’0” and 160 lbs., throwing just 87-93 MPH on his fastball.
Also Maeda’s 7.4 K/9 ratio probably dips at least a full point if not more in
the Major Leagues, likely more.
Maeda isn’t an ace and he isn’t bringing a trip to the
Canyon of Heroes with him but if the Yankees are hell bent on adding a starting
pitcher this winter Maeda may make the most sense. Sure he’s a risk, any
pitcher is, but his contract will likely be shorter than the better free agents
on the market and a whole lot cheaper. Maeda could fit into the role Ivan Nova
was meant to be in, middle of the rotation type starter that can keep the team
in games and give the club over 200 innings every season of the contract. A lot
has to happen, Nova being traded is one of them, for Maeda to come to the Bronx
but he does make a lot of sense for the club. Hold onto the draft pick and
either go big on a David Price or go economical and get a Maeda. Either way is
okay with me.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)