LA Dodgers Trade Rumors: Team Hopes to Sign Kenta Maeda
The Japanese professional baseball team Hiroshima Toyo Carp recently made its star pitcher Kenta Maeda available by way of the posting system and it looks like several teams are quite intrigued as to what the 27-year-old can offer in the major league.
One of those teams showing significant interest in signing him is the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are reportedly in contact with Maeda's representatives as of this posting. While multiple teams are surely going to be contemplating their own chances of landing the Nippon Professional Baseball star, the biggest advantage the Dodgers have at this moment is the fact that owner Mark Walter seems to be very liberal when it comes to spending.
The Dodgers, along with other teams, have until Jan. 8 to be able to sign Maeda. However, there's always a catch when players from another professional league are made available through the posting system. In this case, any team that wins Maeda will have to commit to paying his team, Carp, the $20 million release fee.
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A lot of baseball pundits say that Maeda bears some resemblance to that of Mike Leake, who recently signed with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Because of the release fee as mandated in the pointing system, the team that gets Maeda will have to prepare at least $100 million in order to legitimize everything. The question is will any other team be willing enough to spend that kind of money?
For the Dodgers, the failure to re-sign star pitcher Zack Greinke was in itself a huge setback. Signing someone like Maeda who has tons of potential might be a worthy risk for them. After all, team ownership seems to be not really that concerned when it comes to spending money to improve the roster. With their immediate need for a starting pitcher, there's a great chance that this will become a done deal weeks before the deadline.
