Should the New York Yankees Pursue Kenta Maeda?

With November coming to a close and the 2015 Annual Baseball Winter Meetings on the horizon, the Yankees biggest franchise need is still controllable pitching through 2018 and beyond.

On Saturday we saw Jordan Zimmermann officially sign with the Detroit Tigets on a five year deal worth $110 MM. Shortly after that we learned that Johnny Cueto rejected a six-year deal from the Arizona Diamondbacks worth $120 MM.

That said, the free agent hot stove for starting pitching is officially heating up, and the Yankees fan base is anxiously awaiting to see what Brian Cashman and the Yankees front office will do to fill their void in the starting rotation.

One interesting pitcher to keep an eye out for is Japanese star Kenta Maeda, who reportedly asked the Hiroshima Carp to post him so that he can pursue a career in the MLB as early as next season. According to the same report, Maeda wanted to move to the MLB for several years now, but Hiroshima has continuously declined to post him. However, they do have more incentive to post Maeda now though, especially because he is inching closer and closer to qualifying as an international free agent, and they wouldn’t want to lose him for nothing.

The 27-year old right hander has pitched to a 97-67 record while posting an impressive 2.39 ERA over eight seasons in Japans Nippon Professional Baseball League. Last season he pitched to a 15-8 record with a 2.09 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and a 1.8 BB/9 over 206.1 innings. Although Maeda is one of the top pitchers currently in Japan, he isn’t considered a potential MLB ace like Yu Darvish or Masahiro Tanaka when they were posted. Instead he’s projected as a mid-rotation workhorse in the MLB, which happens to be exactly what the Yankees need.

Also, if the Yankees were to sign Maeda, they wouldn’t have to forfeit their 22nd overall draft pick in the 2016 First Year Player Draft as compensation, unlike both Wei-Yin Chen and Jeff Samardzija. Instead, the Yankees would likely have to pay the maximum $20 MM posting fee to Hiroshima in order to open up a 30-day window to negotiate a contract with Maeda.

Playing devils advocate here, some may argue that at 6-foot nothing and 160 pounds soaking wet equipped with a lackadaisical 7.4 K/9 ratio and an average velocity that sits between 87-93 mph, Kenta Maeda doesn’t exactly fit the build for the Yankees starting rotation. Also at age 27 with a combined 1,509.2 innings in Japan (which is more than Masahiro Tanaka hurled before signing with the Yankees), there has to be a level of concern with Maeda breaking down while under contract. We all know the last thing the Yankees need is to invest in another injury prone starting pitcher.

In my opinion the pro’s outweigh con’s, and with the Yankees looking to go younger and build through the draft, I believe they should hold on to their 22nd overall draft pick instead of wasting it on a free agent pitcher who rejected a qualifying offer. Purusing Kenta Maeda would give the Yankees the opportunity to add a starting pitcher without forfeiting their top pick or trading prospects via trade. As far as his low K/9 ratio, the Yankees can rely on Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda to pile on the strikeouts in 2016 and beyond, meaning they can use Maeda as a back-end innings eater to give the bullpen some rest every time he takes the hill.

The Hiroshima Carp have yet to announce whether or not they will post Maeda this offseason, but the expectation is he will be made available for MLB teams.

Should the Yankees pursue him? Let us know in the comments below.

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