Top Pitching Target Off Table For Arizona Diamondbacks
March 17, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; Japan starting pitcher Kenta Maeda (20) reacts after a pitch during the first inning of the World Baseball Classic semifinal against the Puerto Rico at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Diamondbacks are back to square one when it comes to addressing the top part of their rotation.
Kenta Maeda, who if posted by his Japanese team was expected to be one of the top pitching targets in this year’s free agent class, will return to Japan for at least another season. The Hiroshima Carp told Maeda last week that they wouldn’t be posted this winter and they made it official by signing him to a new contract earlier this week.
The D-Backs were said to be one of the top contenders for Maeda if he was indeed posted. General Manager Dave Stewart made no secret about it that he “loves” Maeda. Stewart’s acquisition of him will have to wait for now.
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The 26-year-old has put together an impressive streak of five straight seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA in the Japanese League. Over seven seasons with the Carp, he’s had a 82-59 record with a 2.44 ERA over the course of 1,303.1 innings.
Maeda isn’t expected to be as good as Yu Darvish or last year’s prized possession Masahiro Tanaka, but scouts believe he will be a very solid mid-rotation type starter if he ever reaches the big leagues.
With Maeda no longer available, the D-Backs will have to turn elsewhere. If the season were to begin today, Josh Collmenter would be Arizona’s Opening Day starter. Collmenter is a nice guy to have at the back-end of your rotation, but he’s certainly no ace.
The free agent market is probably not a real realistic option as it’s pretty well picked over as we head into the new year.
Max Scherzer and James Shields are the two top options available, but it’s hard to see the organization spending big money on either. Scherzer is expected to command more than $200 million and Shields is on the wrong side of 30 and has thrown a ton of innings over the last eight seasons.
If Stewart wants to address the top of the rotation, it would probably have to come through a trade.
All the trades that Stewart has made so far this offseason have given the D-Backs a surplus in young starting pitching, which could make it attractive for a team looking to unload a top arm. It remains to be seen if the D-Backs front office would be willing to move that surplus in young pitching though.
My guess is that this club will bring in a veteran arm on a short-term deal before the start of spring training in order to compete for a spot in the rotation. I’m not exactly sure who that will be at the moment, but with how young the rotation is at the moment, a veteran presence is certainly needed.