Report: Kenta Maeda will not be posted this offseason

The Hiroshima Carp have decided not to post ace right-hander Kenta Maeda this offseason, according to a report in Kyodo. The team has informed the player he will not be posted. Back in October, Carp owner Hajime Matsuda said “we would like to let him go, but based on his production this year it will be difficult.”

Maeda, 26, has made it no secret that he wants to play in MLB, though he will not qualify for international free agency until after the 2017 season. He reportedly told the media in Japan he wanted to play for either the Yankees or Red Sox next season. Speculation had him receiving a five or six-year contract in the $100M to $120M range, on the top of the release fee that would be owed to the Carp.

Maeda is arguably the best pitcher in Japan, though his 2014 season was not as good as his 2010-13 efforts. I guess the team was worried the down year wouldn’t allow them to get the maximum $20M release fee. Hiroshima supposedly has a good club, so they can keep their ace, try to win with him in 2015, then post him again next year. Here are Maeda’s career stats (via Baseball-Reference):

Year	Age	Tm	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	BF	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	K/BB
2008	20	Hiroshima	9	2	3.20	19	18	1	1	109.2	103	43	39	10	35	55	3	462	1.258	8.5	0.8	2.9	4.5	1.57
2009	21	Hiroshima	8	14	3.36	29	29	3	1	193.0	194	82	72	22	29	147	3	795	1.155	9.0	1.0	1.4	6.9	5.07
2010	22	Hiroshima	15	8	2.21	28	28	6	2	215.2	166	55	53	15	46	174	7	848	0.983	6.9	0.6	1.9	7.3	3.78
2011	23	Hiroshima	10	12	2.46	31	31	4	2	216.0	178	61	59	14	43	192	6	864	1.023	7.4	0.6	1.8	8.0	4.47
2012	24	Hiroshima	14	7	1.53	29	29	5	2	206.1	161	46	35	6	44	171	9	820	0.994	7.0	0.3	1.9	7.5	3.89
2013	25	Hiroshima	15	7	2.10	26	26	3	1	175.2	129	46	41	13	40	158	2	690	0.962	6.6	0.7	2.0	8.1	3.95
2014	26	Hiroshima	11	9	2.60	27	27	1	1	187.0	164	61	54	12	41	161	2	746	1.096	7.9	0.6	2.0	7.7	3.93
7 Seasons			82	59	2.44	189	188	23	10	1303.1	1095	394	353	92	278	1058	32	5225	1.053	7.6	0.6	1.9	7.3	3.81

Ben Badler (subs. req’d) gave a scouting report on Maeda back in October, saying he “doesn’t have overpowering stuff of a frontline starter like we’ve seen from fellow Japanese righthanders Masahiro Tanaka or Yu Darvish, (but his) ability to command his fastball and mix his pitches allows him to keep hitters off-balance.” Badler said Maeda sits anywhere from 87-94 with his fastball and his go-to pitch in a low-80s slider. He also throws a mid-80s changeup, an upper-80s cutter, and a slow low-70s curveball. Here’s video.

The Yankees were never connected to Maeda this offseason, though they need pitching and he figured to be someone they might explore, especially now that almost all of the mid-range starters are off the board. The reported $100M+ price tag seems pretty steep though, especially since Maeda is not considered an elite pitcher along the lines of Tanaka and Darvish. There’s always next offseason, I guess.

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