There are a total of 8 Japanese players playing in MLB in the 2023 season.
However, among them, Kenta Maeda (Minnesota Twins) has the lowest annual salary.
This is because he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers under what is called a ‘slave contract’.
He signed an eight-year, $25 million contract with the Dodgers ahead of the 2016 season. Here, complex incentive clauses that would make even a passing cow laugh were inserted.
This year, the final year of his contract, his annual salary is $3 million. Even the signing bonus is $3.125 million.
That’s less than the $3.25 million paid by Shintaro Fujinami, who signed a one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics.
The second place in the 2020 American League Cy Young Award voting is colorless.
Maeda was unable to stand on the mound in the major leagues after the game against the New York Yankees on August 22, 2021 (Korean time). This is because he was on the operating table with a torn ligament in his elbow.
After a year and a half since then, he is finally on the mound this year.
But things have changed a lot. It is because he has to participate in spring camp with the goal of joining the opening rotation.
However, Maeda showed extraordinary determination. 안전놀이터
In a recent interview with J Sports, a Japanese sports channel, he said, “I want to become a stronger pitcher than before the surgery.”
Maeda’s goal is to achieve 200 victories in Japan and the United States. To date, he has won 156 career victories with 97 wins in Japan and 59 wins in the United States. He has 44 wins left to go.
Maeda threw for the Dodgers without hesitation. When asked to pitch as a starter, he threw, and when asked to pitch as a bullpen pitcher, he threw silently. That’s why he also had the nickname ‘Madangsoe’ attached to him.
It is noteworthy whether Maeda, who was treated poorly compared to his skills, will be able to pitch the same as he did in 2020.