DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Detroit Tigers and right-handed starting pitcher Kenta Maeda have agreed to a 2-year deal, according to multiple reports.
Jon Heyman with the New York Post was the first to report the deal. ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that the 35-year-old pitcher will be paid $24 million over the next two seasons.
Maeda has spent seven seasons in the big leagues, making his debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016. He finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting that season, after starting 32 games and finishing with a 3.48 ERA, striking out 179 batters in 175 2/3 innings pitched.
Maeda spent four seasons with the Dodgers before being traded to the Minnesota Twins. He had a career year in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, winning six of his eleven starts with an ERA of 2.70, good for ninth-best in all of MLB. He struck out 80 batters in 66 2/3 innings this season, posting a league-best WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) of 0.75. He finished second in AL Cy Young voting that season.
He returned to the mound in mid-April this past season after missing all of 2022 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Last season, he won six of his 20 starts, posting an ERA of 4.23 and a WHIP of 1.16, while striking out 117 batters in 104 1/3 innings.
Maeda is a veteran arm that joins a young Tigers pitching staff that includes Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Matt Manning and Reese Olson. The team has yet to announce the deal, but we'll provide more details when that happens.
