Kenta Maeda pitching for Japan.
With many headline starters already signed, it is time for the Cardinals to make some moves and land a few big names. One name in particular, Kenta Maeda.
Remarked by many as the next Yu Darvish, the Hiroshima Carp ace Starting Pitcher has posted an ERA of 2.94 or lower each of the past five season and has won two Samurai Awards (the Japanese version of the Cy Young Award). Going into his age 28 season, he is entering his prime as a starter though he has logged 1509-innings since he joined Hiroshima in 2008.
Though pitchers out of the Asian leagues come with the stigma of being injury prone due to the switching of schedules and routines. The near 200 innings a year he can offer, and for well under $100-million dollars (after posting fees and contract), would still make him cheaper than pitchers like Jeff Samardzija, Johnny Cueto, and possible Mike Leake.
Some of his stats to look at is his career WHIP of 1.04, his HR/9 of 0.6 (about one homer allowed per 17 innings) and his W/9 of 1.9.
Those numbers mean he can paint areas low and away from hitters and can keep most hitters on top of the ball allowing his defense to do much of the work.
Currently the Diamondbacks are openly in pursuit. However with the recent signing of Zach Greinke there is a question of could they afford a near $80-milliom dollar deal for an international pitcher, when they have other parts of their lineup and pitching staff to address on a tight budget.
If Maeda can come to the U.S. and to a pitchers park, like Busch Stadium, do expect him to find early success in keeping the ball in the ballpark and not allowing many free bases. He also comes over with 10 career shutouts as well.
The Cardinals need to move on Maeda because they lost Lance Lynn, a noted work horse. As well as John Lackey to the Cubs, another work horse. Leaning heavily on young unproven arms and a starting five (Waino, Wacha, Martinez, Garcia, Gonzalez) all with recent injuries is dangerous given the lack of depth of quality arms in Memphis. Maeda solves a large part of that issue for the near future, as well as down the road. Maeda has avoided injury so far in his career.
While there is no guarantee he will be the same stats wise as in Japan, if you were to take is 2011 season,  his second worst year as a starter as the mark of his fist year in the MLB…  he’d go 10-12 with a 2.46 ERA with 4-complete games and 2-complete game shutouts.
Estimated contract by Bleacher Report and MLB Trade Rumors estimate $20-million in posted fees, and about $55($75 with post fees)/5-years. That would make about $15-million a year, which puts him at the same as Hisashi Iwakuma, and cheaper than the following:
C.C. Sabathia – $23,250,000
Matt Cain – $22,500,000
Rick Porcello – $20,625,000
Jeff Samardzija – $18,750,000
Homer Bailey – $17,500,000
Tim Lincecum – $17,500,000
Jered Weaver – $17,000,000
Anibal Sanchez – $16,000,000
John Lackey (whom I will miss in Cardinal Red) – $16,000,000
Brett Anderson – $15,800,000
C.J. Wilson – $15,500,000
So in conclusion… other teams have made some expensive signings in recent years. However even with the posting fee, this signing is an excellent one if made. Hopefully Maeda will bring his near 200 innings and great command of the strike zone to St. Louis.
