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His team has denied him the last two seasons, but the NPB’s Kenta Maeda might finally get his wish to be posted to MLB. Maeda currently pitches for the Hiroshima Carp, and while he’s not considered to be on the same level as the last two major pitchers to be posted from Japan -- Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka -- Maeda would still be an intriguing and potentially productive addition to an already strong free agent class.
Maeda has twice won NPB’s version of the Cy Young, the Sawumara. He’ll be only 28 years old during the 2016 season, has a 2.39 ERA in his eight-year career and has thrown over 200 innings on four different occasions, the most recent during 2015. The concern is that he doesn’t miss bats quite as often as some of the NPB’s finest have before coming stateside -- Maeda has struck out 7.4 batters per nine for his career and 7.6 last year -- so if he starts allowing more walks than he has in the past, there could be trouble. Or, at least, enough of a problem that he doesn’t remain a top-of-the-rotation type arm.
A final decision won’t be made until next week, according to the Carp’s general manager, Kiyoaki Suzuki. And even if he is posted, we’ll have to wait until the bids are sorted out and then likely for 30 more days while a deal is negotiated to find out where he could end up, if he’ll be coming to MLB on his third try at all. In a market mostly stuffed with expensive aces such as David Price, Johnny Cueto, Zack Greinke and more, though, there is certainly room for someone talented that won’t cost nearly as much. There is risk in acquiring Maeda, of course, but that’s the case with just about everyone available on the mound this winter.
- Maybe Robinson Cano wants out of Seattle, maybe he's perfectly happy with the Mariners. Either way, he -- and everyone else signing these mega deals -- should probably have negotiated an opt-out clause into his contract.
- It's a good thing this year's free agent class is loaded, because the 2016-17 offseason looks like it's going to be depressing.
- Outdated Hall of Fame voting measures are likely going to cost Jim Edmonds. The voting should be a simple yes or no rather than a limited ballot, but if that happened, it would be easier for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens to be rightfully voted in to Cooperstown.
- The focus is often on the NFL's problems, but MLB players have domestic abuse arrests, too, and the most recent is a test case for their policies going forward.
- The Royals could use some of those free agent pitchers available this winter.
- The White Sox haven't decided if they're rebuilding or reloading, but either way, they need to fix their defense.
- The Mariners and Marlins are talking about a Marcell Ozuna trade, because Jeffrey Loria will defeat his greatest rival.
- John Lackey is already living that Kenta Maeda life as a guy who will be popular with teams that don't want to spend on an ace.
- Confused about the whole daily fantasy sports fight going on right now? Louis Bien detailed the ins and outs of the "is it gambling or not" debate.
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