It's been easy to forget that Kenta Maeda was a Detroit Tiger up until May 1 of this year because Tigers fans were so eager to never lend him another thought after he was released. His two-year, $24 million deal with Detroit very well may be one of the worst contracts the club has ever doled out. By the time he was released, he'd pitched just eight innings on the year for a 7.88 ERA.
It was still too late for a lot of Tigers fans, who had to watch Maeda pitch one awful start after another in 2024 before he was eventually demoted to the bullpen and where he continued to struggle as a long reliever.