The Tigers have added a veteran arm to their young rotation, agreeing to a two-year, $24 million deal with right-hander Kenta Maeda, per multiple reports.
Maeda, who turns 36 in April, will lend experience and, ideally, reliability to a rotation in Detroit that could feature four up-and-coming starters next season in Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Matt Manning and Reese Olson.
Maeda posted a 4.23 ERA (4.02 FIP) with 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings and 2.4 walks per nine innings in 21 games last season. His strikeout-to-walk ratio would have ranked second in the Tigers' rotation behind Skubal.
Like Michael Lorenzen last year, Maeda is a worthy investment for Detroit. He put together four solid seasons with the Dodgers before three seasons with the Twins, including finishing second for AL Cy Young in the Covid-shortened season. He has a career ERA of 3.92 and the Tigers, led by Scott Harris, A.J. Hinch and a progressive pitching department, believe they can get more out of him. They helped Lorenzen become an All-Star last season for the first time in his career.
Maeda is known for having one of the best splitters in baseball, which should make him a good resource for Mize. He's also a couple years removed from undergoing Tommy John surgery, which cost him all of 2022. Mize missed most of 2022 and all of 2023 due to Tommy John.
In addition to the splitter, his bread-and-butter pitch, Maeda throws a four-seam, slider, sinker and curve. His four-seam has been hit hard in the past, and hitters teed off on his slider last season. That's where the Tigers will likely focus; the slider was one of Maeda's best pitches pre-Tommy John. If he can regain the feel for it, Maeda could be a sturdy middle-of-the-rotation starter for Detroit.
He figures to slot in as the team's No. 3 or No. 4 starter, likely behind Skubal and Mize. The Tigers have to replace Lorenzen, who was traded to the Phillies at the deadline last season and is now a free agent, and Eduardo Rodriguez, a free agent himself after opting out of the final three years of his contract. Free agent Matthew Boyd is also gone after undergoing Tommy John in July. Those three started more than a third of the Tigers' games last season.
The hope is that a young rotation stays healthy next season, and that Maeda provides quality innings every fifth game.