A report from Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press emerged on Tuesday evening, suggesting that the Detroit Tigers have “serious” interest in veteran Japanese starting pitcher Kenta Maeda. The 35-year-old right-hander is familiar to most Tigers fans from his four seasons in the Minnesota Twins organization. Prior to that he spent four years with the Los Angeles Dodgers after dominating the NPB in his mid-20’s and eventually getting posted for free agency with MLB teams.
One particularly interesting note from Petzold’s source is the idea that the Tigers view signing Maeda as a potential foothold with Japanese players.