The Tigers agreed to a two-year deal with pitcher Kenta Maeda:

The Tigers hope that Maeda will help them as both a pitcher, a veteran presence, and perhaps as a bit of an ambassador to other top Japanese players to start considering the Detroit as a good landing spot when posted for MLB free agency.

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The money indicates that the Tigers expect about three WAR from Maeda over the life of the contract. His three true outcomes in 2023 reflected his career norms, so the Tommy John surgery worked well. His ERA went up due to a higher than normal BABIP allowed, .293 versus a .283 career mark. That’s still pretty good.

The Tigers sign a solid starter without breaking the bank. It’s the kind of move teams make when they are ready to compete, filling a hole with a veteran starter. Note that the Tigers rotation ranked fairly high in average game score in 2023, mostly due to the starters not pitching long enough to give up poor outcomes. Maeda fits this mold after averaging about five innings per start in 2023. If Detroit can get six innings per start out of him with this good three-true outcomes, the deal is a win.

Now they need to figure out how to score some runs.