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Dodgers finalize $25M deal that could be worth $106M with Japanese pitcher Maeda

January 7, 2016
Newly signed Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda, from Japan, is introduced by Andrew Friedman, the team's president of baseball operations, at a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Maeda, 27, signed an eight-year contract with the baseball club that guarantees the right-hander $25 million, but he can earn over $100 million during the length of the deal if he meets all performance incentives. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Newly signed Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda, from Japan, is introduced by Andrew Friedman, the team’s president of baseball operations, at a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Maeda, 27, signed an eight-year contract with the baseball club that guarantees the right-hander $25 million, but he can earn over $100 million during the length of the deal if he meets all performance incentives. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

By The Korea Times Los Angeles staff

The Los Angeles Dodgers have finalized a $25 million, eight-year contract with Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda, a deal that could be worth $106.2 million if he stays healthy.

The team introduced the 27-year-old right-hander during a news conference Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

Maeda and the Dodgers acknowledged that his physical revealed unspecified “irregularities.” Maeda has had elbow issues but says he’s confident he will be able to pitch a full season in the major leagues, and that’s why he accepted an incentive-laden long-term contract.

If Maeda is on the Dodgers’ opening-day roster each season and makes 32 starts and pitches 200 innings each year, he would receive the full $106.2 million.

If not, the Dodgers are on the hook for only $3.125 million per year.

The Dodgers reportedly are fully aware that Maeda may eventually need a Tommy John surgery, but the thinking here is that it’s still a good deal if they get three good years out of him.

Maeda led the Japanese Central League with 15 wins in 2015 with the Hiroshima Carp, going 15-8 with a 2.09 ERA in 29 starts, to win his second-career Sawamura Award, given to the league’s best pitcher. Maeda struck out 175 against just 41 walks, while posting a 1.01 WHIP and holding opposing batters to a .222 average.  He allowed just five home runs in 206.1 innings (0.2 home runs allowed per 9.0 innings) and limited right-handed hitters to a .160 batting average.

In eight professional seasons with Hiroshima (2008-15), Maeda compiled a 97-67 record with a 2.39 ERA in 218 games (217 starts), including 28 complete games and 10 shutouts. During the course of his career, Maeda has posted a 1.05 WHIP and a 3.87 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while allowing an average of only 0.6 home runs per 9.0 innings.

In 2010, he won his first Sawamura Award, as he became the youngest pitcher in Japan baseball history to record a pitching triple crown with 15 wins (15-8), a 2.21 ERA and 174 strikeouts. Maeda has also been one of the top fielding pitchers in Japan, earning recognition as the best fielding pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball five times in the past six seasons (2010, 2012-15).

Maeda, who will wear uniform No. 18, will become the eighth Japanese player in Dodger history, joining Hideo Nomo (1995-98, 2002-04), Kazuhisa Ishii (2002-04), Masao Kida (2003-04), Norihiro Nakamura (2005), Dave Roberts (2002-04), Takashi Saito (2006-07) and Hiroki Kuroda (2008-11). The franchise’s ties with Japan date to 1956 when the Dodgers made their first of three post-season tours of the country (also: 1966 and 1993) and the club is widely credited for starting the influx of talent from Japan to the Major Leagues with the historic signing of Nomo in 1995.

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*AP materials were used in this article.