Tigers fans laughing at Yankees after all-time disliked pitcher signs with New York

It's been easy to forget that Kenta Maeda was a Detroit Tiger up until May 1 of this year because Tigers fans were so eager to never lend him another thought after he was released. His two-year, $24 million deal with Detroit very well may be one of the worst contracts the club has ever doled out. By the time he was released, he'd pitched just eight innings on the year for a 7.88 ERA.

It was still too late for a lot of Tigers fans, who had to watch Maeda pitch one awful start after another in 2024 before he was eventually demoted to the bullpen and where he continued to struggle as a long reliever. Detroit had to eat the rest of the $10 million they owed him for 2025, but it was worth it.

Maeda signed a minor league deal with the Cubs after his release, but they dumped him on Aug. 4. Per Yuki Yamada of MLB.com, he's (hilariously) signing a minor league deal with the Yankees, who were just rocked by the Marlins, of all teams, and swept for the first time since the Marlins were founded in 1993.

Kenta Maeda signs a minor league deal with Yankees after Tigers, Cubs dumping

The Tigers have a number of former Yankees on their roster this season, including Gleyber Torres, Tommy Kahnle, and Jahmai Jones. Torres has turned out to be a smash success in Detroit, which makes it even more delightful that New York is now picking up the Tigers' scraps.

Maeda left the Cubs with a 5.97 ERA in Triple-A Iowa and without seeing any time in the majors. In his first three starts for the Iowa Cubs, he gave up an astonishing 18 runs in just 6 2/3 innings, amounting to a 24.30 ERA. He leveled out significantly in June and made it through the month with a 3.18 ERA, but regressed again in early July before the Cubs finally decided to give him the boot.

The Yankees' epic collapse against the Marlins wasn't entirely their starters' fault — all three of New York's new bullpen acquisitions played a part in ruining a 9-4 Yankees lead in the seventh on Friday — but a four-run performance for Carlos Rodón, two-run from Cam Schlitter, and five-run from Luis Gil weren't not partially to blame.

Tigers (and Cubs) fans already know that Maeda isn't going to be able to help at all, but good luck to the Yankees with all of that.