Tigers bust impressed in Yankees debut, but Detroit fans know it's fool's gold

Tigers fans were ready to celebrate in the streets when Detroit finally bit the bullet and released Kenta Maeda despite owing him $10 million for the rest of the season. By the time he left with his tail tucked between his legs, Tigers fans could confidently say that his two year, $24 million deal was among one of the worst in recent Tigers history. He pitched so badly that even the Tigers' penny-pinching front office could no longer abide.

The Cubs picked him up on a minor league deal but dropped him on Aug. 2 after 12 starts that yielded a 5.97 ERA in Triple-A Iowa, mostly thanks to three truly terrible starts in May, right after he left the Tigers.

It only took him a few days to find yet another home, this time with the Yankees. It was another minor league deal, but there's a lot up in the air with the rotation, and that pitching staff is floundering with Max Fried's recent tailspin.

In his first appearance in Triple-A Scranton, Maeda pitched six innings and only gave up one unearned run while striking out seven batters. It was an impressive debut, but Tigers fans know it won't last.

Tigers fans know Kenta Maeda's great first impression on Yankees isn't going to last

The Tigers signing Maeda was kind of a questionable choice in the first place, even if no one knew exactly how bad he would turn out to be. He left the Twins after 2023 with a 4.23 ERA over 104 1/3 innings in an injury-shorted season, so he was neither an innings eater nor a particularly good pitcher when healthy. His signing makes a little more sense now, seeing how much Scott Harris and the Tigers front office loves signing or acquiring veteran (read: old) pitchers on $15 million-ish deals, but at least Charlie Morton has done a better job so far than Maeda basically ever did.

The Yankees are definitely hopeful that they're going to see Maeda return to any semblance of his 2020 Cy Young candidate form. To be fair, he did leave the Cubs' minor leagues with a decent ERA over his last few starts.

Tigers fans would wager with confidence that isn't going to happen. The Yankees have yet to see Maeda in action in the majors, and if he does get there, our money's on his debut going so disastrously that he gets dumped again the next day.