The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan signed starting pitcher Kenta Maeda to a two-year contract on November 25, Sankei Sports reported.
Maeda will receive 400 million yen in his two-year contract with the Golden Eagles.
本日の #サンスポ １面は
【#マエケン 楽天入り】#前田健太 が２年４億円以上で楽天と合意したことが分かりました。
また、ＦＡ移籍も続々決着。#松本剛 が巨人入り決断、#桑原将志 が西武と合意しています。きょうのサンケイスポーツでご覧下さい。 pic.twitter.com/BSjzvDjOR0
— サンケイスポーツ（サンスポ）公式 (@sankeisports) November 25, 2025
The organization also announced the signing of Maeda.
【前田健太選手 契約合意に関して】
前田健太選手と契約合意しましたので、お知らせいたします。https://t.co/cOyFfuCL4J#RakutenEagles pic.twitter.com/nzeAYjh13M
— 東北楽天ゴールデンイーグルス (@Rakuten__Eagles) November 26, 2025
The Golden Eagles, under second-year manager Hajime Miki, finished fourth in the Pacific League during the 2025 season with a 67-74-2 record and ended 21 games behind the regular season champion Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, missing the postseason.
Maeda will join former Major Leaguers Luke Voit and Roansy Contreras on the Golden Eagles roster for the 2026 NPB regular season.
Maeda announced on his Instagram profile on Wednesday, November 5, that he will return to play in Nippon Professional Baseball for the 2026 season.
Kenta Maeda announces he is returning to Japan to continue his career.
Maeda spent 2016-2025 in MLB with the Dodgers, Twins and Tigers. pic.twitter.com/UMebWt3tLU
— MLB (@MLB) November 6, 2025
The 37-year-old from Senboku-gun, Japan played nine seasons in Major League Baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2016-19, the Minnesota Twins from 2020-21 and 2023, and the Detroit Tigers during the 2024-25 seasons.
Maeda missed the 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery before returning to Minneapolis for the 2023 season and later signing with Detroit for a two-year contract worth 24 million dollars on November 28, 2023.
Last season in Detroit, Maeda made seven appearances out of the bullpen and posted a 7.88 ERA, throwing eight innings, allowing nine hits, seven earned runs, one home run, six walks, eight strikeouts, and a 1.875 WHIP before being designated for assignment on May 1 and released on May 7.
Maeda later signed with the Chicago Cubs on May 16 to a minor league contract and was assigned to Triple-A Iowa that day.
With Triple-A Iowa, Maeda went 3-4 and started 12 games with a 5.97 ERA, throwing 57.1 innings, allowing 54 hits, 38 earned runs, eight home runs, 25 walks, and 45 strikeouts before being released on August 2. He later signed with the New York Yankees to a minor league contract on August 4 and was assigned to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre.
In Scranton Wilkes-Barre, Maeda went 3-3 with a 4.64 ERA in eight starts, throwing 42.2 innings, allowing 39 hits, 22 earned runs, five home runs, 14 walks, 38 strikeouts, and a 1.242 WHIP prior to exploring options to return to Japan.
Maeda played eight seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in NPB from 2008 through 2015 before heading to the United States.
His accolades in Japan include winning the Japanese Triple Crown in 2010, being selected five times as an NPB All-Star in 2010 and from 2012-15, earning the Best Nine Award in 2010, 2013, and 2015, winning the Mitsui Golden Glove Award in 2010 and from 2012-15, and receiving the Eiji Sawamura Award in 2010 and 2015. He led the Central League in wins in 2010 and 2015, led the CL in ERA in 2010, 2012, and 2013, led the CL in strikeouts in 2010 and 2011, and was named the NPB All-Star Game MVP in Game Two of the 2012 series.
Across eight seasons in NPB, Maeda logged 218 appearances and 217 starts with a 97-67 record, a 2.39 ERA, 28 complete games, and 1,509.2 innings pitched.
In his nine seasons in MLB, Maeda recorded a lifetime 68-56 record with a 4.20 ERA, throwing 986.2 innings in 226 appearances and 172 starts, adding six saves, allowing 873 hits, 460 earned runs, 142 home runs, 285 walks, 1,055 strikeouts, and a 1.174 WHIP.
