Kenta Maeda signs with NPB’s Rakuten Eagles, ending MLB tenure

The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball announced they’ve signed Kenta Maeda. The 37-year-old righty said in August that he planned to return to his home country next year. A report from Japan’s Sankei Sports indicates he signed a two-year contract.

This will all but officially close the book on Maeda’s career in the major leagues. He pitched in nine MLB seasons, turning in a 4.20 earned run average while coming up a little shy of 1000 innings pitched. Maeda spent the first four seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers after signing an eight-year deal to join Los Angeles over the 2015-16 offseason. His rookie year was his best in Dodger blue, as he won 16 games and turned in a 3.48 ERA over a career-high 175 2/3 frames. Maeda struggled in the postseason that year but rebounded with 10 2/3 innings of one-run ball in October 2017 to help the Dodgers to a pennant.

L.A. shipped Maeda to the Minnesota Twins for Brusdar Graterol and Luke Raley over the 2019-20 offseason. Maeda’s first season in Minnesota was shortened by the truncated schedule but arguably the best of his career. He turned in a 2.70 ERA while averaging more than six innings per appearance over 11 starts, earning a runner-up finish behind Shane Bieber in AL Cy Young voting. Maeda remained in the Twin Cities for another three seasons, though he missed the 2022 campaign rehabbing Tommy John surgery.

The Detroit Tigers signed him to a two-year, $24M free agent deal going into 2024. While it was a sensible bet on Maeda’s strong strikeout and walk profile, his diminishing stuff led to significant home run issues. Maeda was hit hard to the tune of a 6.09 ERA in 2024. He didn’t find any better results early in the ’25 campaign while pitching out of the bullpen, leading the Tigers to release him in early May. That wound up marking the end of his MLB career. Maeda pitched in Triple-A with the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees, posting a 5.40 ERA across 20 starts through the end of the year.

Maeda returns to Japan, where he starred for the Hiroshima Carp for eight seasons before making the move to MLB. He owns a 2.39 ERA in a little more than 1500 career NPB innings. He’ll be teammates with former big leaguers Luke Voit and Roansy Contreras, each of whom have already signed with the Eagles for the 2026 season.