March 1st, 2020 at 10:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka There was a time not so long ago that soon-to-be (on April 11) 32-year-old Japanese right-hander Kenta Maeda was among the most popular guys in the Dodgers clubhouse and a huge fan-favorite. I mean, who can forget the hilarious antics that frequently occurred between him and his extremely poplar former translator (and now Dodgers Performance Operations Coordinator) Will Ireton and with the rest of the team.
…and then the bottom fell out.
Late last season and out of dire necessity, the Senboku-gun, Japan native and former NPB and MLB starting pitcher was moved into the Dodgers bullpen, where he was very effective. In fact, Maeda quickly became the team’s best reliever. By every appearance, it was a role that he openly embraced.
After failing to advance beyond the 2019 NLDS (and we all now know why), Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman aggressively worked with Maeda and his agents at Wasserman to restructure his existing start-incentive-based contract in such a way that he would make even more money than with his existing eight-year/$25 million contract which runs through the 2023 season.
When negotiations broke down between Maeda and the Dodgers, Friedman traded him and minor league catcher/third baseman Jair Camargo (and cash) to the Minnesota Twins for former Dodger farmhand Luke Raley, fireballer right-hander Brusdar Graterol and future considerations on February 10, 2020. By every indication, the trade was very amicable.
…or so we thought.
On Saturday morning, it was being widely reported on social media that Maeda had actually asked the Dodgers to trade him because he wanted to be a fulltime starter with aspirations of winning a combined 200 games between the NPB and MLB regardless of the money being offered to him by the Dodgers to pitch out of the bullpen.
To be brutally honest, Maeda’s goal is probably out of reach when you consider that he will soon be 32 years old and is currently 54 wins shy of the 200 win mark. Even if he remains healthy, he would need to average more than 10 wins per season for the next five seasons to get there; doable, but he will be pushing 38 years old by then.
As a basis for comparison, Maeda won 16 games in his first season with the Dodgers in 2016 (at age 28), 13 games in 2017 (29), eight games in 2018 (30) and 10 games in 2019 (31). Again, achieving 200 wins is certainly doable, but unlikely.
But perhaps of bigger concern is that Maeda has now openly put his own personal goal of winning 200 games ahead of the Holy Grail of team goals – winning a World Series championship. Again being brutally honest, this just plain sucks and undoubtedly gives his (now former) Dodgers teammates and (now former) Dodger fans every reason in the world to say ‘Good Riddance.‘ and/or ‘DLTDHYITAOTWO.’ (Google it).
You broke our hearts, Kenta. And we hope you enjoy following your former teammates in the 2020 postseason.
…on television.
Play Ball!
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This is a sad story, as far as I’m concerned. It’s a tough way to lose a fan favorite. I guess he wouldn’t let anything stand in the way of his goals.
He was proving to be a better reliever than a starter but I guess that wasn’t what he wanted.
No hard feeling towards Kenta here. He did everything asked of him while he was here after signing a very team friendly contract with the Dodgers.
I’m grateful he let his feelings be known and became a big time trade chip. The Maeda/$10M for Graterol/Raley/67th pick trade could end up being this years Jeter Downs/Josiah Gray fleecing.
Nothing but good came from the Maeda signing. Textbook win win.
I concur that the Dodgers “won the trade,” as they say. I am just disappointed that he did, in fact, put an ‘I’ in team.
Regardless, I wish him the best. He certainly lightened up the Dodgers clubhouse.
Sorry, Ron, I don’t agree with you at all, though I understand the sentiment.
As Boxout7 notes, he signed a very team friendly deal, essentially betting on himself to perform and achieve his performance incentives. The ‘all about the team’ is a noble concept as long as the individuals are compensated fairly. In Kenta’s case, being ‘about the team’ came with being financially penalized.
I can’t recall any in season comments from Kenta complaining of his move to the pen, but that move equates to a salesman being told his commissions were slashed by 75%. He came to LA as a starting pitcher, and wasn’t willing to renegotiate a contract making him a reliever. I don’t blame him, and hope he reaches his 200 wins. He was a terrific L A Dodger.
Excellent points all around. Sometimes it’s difficult to keep emotions out of these articles. As you can probably tell, I REALLY liked Maeda here and my feelings are a bit hurt that he left.
Believe it or not, I too hope he makes it to 200, but it will be difficult for him. It’s all about staying healthy.
But that’s why the Dodgers tried to renegotiate his contact, so he would be paid fairly. No this isn’t about money, it’s about Kenta wanting to be a mid rotation starter instead of a bulldog all-star in the bullpen. Goodbye Kenta, I wish you well.
You nailed it.
I believe that those who have said that Maeda did everything that he was asked to do (i.e., being asked to move to the bullpen) and was being “penalized” are overlooking the fact that Andrew Friedman did everything he could do as well in negotiating a new contract that would have rewarded Kenta exceptionally well.
Obviously, we were not privy to those negotiations, but I absolutely 100 percent believe that Maeda would not have lost ANY money – none whatsoever – by accepting a bullpen role instead of a starter role.
I still believe that this is/was entirely about him getting 200 career wins and until it is confirmed otherwise, I always will.
That being said and here again, I, too, wish him well and sincerely hope that he makes it.
As long as Maeda was a Dodger he did everything asked of him and that to me is a team player,he went to the bullpen and did his best for the team and never said a word of discontent.Not good riddance,I say good luck.