According to a report from Yahoo Japan (via Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times), the Hiroshima Carp have agreed to post Japanese right-hander Kenta Maeda.
After competing in the Premier 12 tournament, Maeda recently told Hiroshima executives that he wanted to be made available for MLB teams. Ben Badler of Baseball America expects that he will be posted for the maximum $20 million posting fee. Just like we saw with Masahiro Tanaka two years ago, whoever agrees to pay the $20 million fee will be able to participate in negotiations.
Maeda turns 28 in April and owns a 2.39 ERA over eight seasons in Japan. He had a 2.09 ERA and 175/41 K/BB ratio over 206 1/3 innings this past season. He might not have the upside of other recent high-profile arrivals like Tanaka or Yu Darvish, but he should still draw plenty of interest. Given Dave Stewart’s public comments, we should probably expect the Diamondbacks to be in the mix.
