Maeda to be posted

After the Hiroshima Toyo Carp listened to the wish of their starting pitcher, Kenta Maeda, they said that they would carefully weigh the options.

In the past week they announced that they would likely post him but today the word came out.

Major League Baseball on Wednesday morning that the Hiroshima Carp of the Japan Central League are posting Maeda, making him available to Major League clubs via the bidding process.

MLB club now can place a bid, starting on coming Thursday. The max bidding fee is $20 million an amount that came into effect in 2013. Teams with the highest bid then have a month to hammer out a deal. But it is expected that more than one team will pay the $20 million, so Maeda and his agent will have a very busy month ahead.

Maeda, 27, has pitched for the Carp since 2008. Since then, he has a record of 97-67 and posted an ERA of 2.39. Last year, Maeda went 15-8 with a 2.09 ERA in 29 starts. He earned his second Sawamura Award, the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young Award. The award is named after  Eiji Sawamura, a power pitcher who enjoyed an great career for the Tokyo Giants before being killed in combat during World War II.

According to several reports,  the Yankees  (who else), the Mariners, the Red Sox, the Cubs, the Dodgers, the Giants and the Diamondbacks are the ones that will bid on the Japanese ace.