MLB Free Agency: Diamondbacks move on from Cueto, focusing on Maeda
The Arizona Diamondbacks are looking for an ace in MLB free agency and they are focused on Japanese import Kenta Maeda.
Over the weekend, news broke that free agent starter Johnny Cueto had declined a six-year, $120 million offer for the Arizona Diamondbacks. That deal would have represented the largest contract in club history, but it was simply not enough to sway the right-hander away from his $140-160 million demands.
Now, it appears the Diamondbacks are moving on.
According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, Arizona is intent at making a run at Japanese import Kenta Maeda and they are willing to bypass mid-level starters in order to put all of their eggs into a top of the rotation arm.
#Dbacks are more likely to pursue Kenta Maeda or try to make a trade than chase Leake, Kazmir or Samardzija, sources say.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) November 30, 2015
While the likes of Mike Leake, Scott Kazmir, or Jeff Samardzija are solid signings and will certainly help the Diamondbacks’ rotation, Dave Stewart seems intent on finding an ace that can take his pitching staff to the next level. Cueto, for all of his late season question marks, still represents an ace on this market, as does Kenta Maeda.
Maeda, who has played eight seasons for the Hiroshima Carp in the Japanese League, is looking to make the jump to Major League Baseball in 2016. However, before he can do so, he’ll need to be posted by the Carp.
According to the new posting rules, every team can enter into the bidding, with a maximum bid amount of $20 million. The player can then negotiate with all of the teams that match the highest bid. In other words, said player can negotiate with any team willing to put up the $20 million maximum. He then chooses the offer or location he wants most and signs accordingly.
When the New York Yankees won the bidding rights to Masahiro Tanaka, it cost them the $20 million posting fee, plus a seven-year, $155 million deal with the right-hander. At the time, Tanaka was three years younger than Maeda and put up slightly better numbers. However, we’re also talking a few more years down the road and the price of pitching has risen markedly.
Maeda, who is still just 27-years-old, has a career record of 97-67 in Japan with a career ERA of 2.39 and a 7.4 K/9 ratio. While the strike-out numbers aren’t tremendously encouraging, his career 0.6 HR/9 ratio may help him transition to MLB.
That all said, the Diamondbacks may be setting their sights rather high and may not be able to compete for Maeda’s services unless they are willing to severely outbid the nearest competitor. The Arizona market doesn’t have the same appeal as the Bostons, the New Yorks, and the Los Angeles of the world, and Japanese players have shown a propensity for wanting to play in large media markets.
Dave Stewart may want the best for his team, but he may have to change his mindset if he really wants to improve the Diamondbacks in 2016.