Yankees sign Kenta Maeda to minor league deal as backup starter optio

Acce s the Yankees beat like never before Dont mi s Greg Joyces text me sages from The Bronx and beyond hes giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees. ARLINGTON, Texas With their starting pitching depth paper thin, the Yankees are taking a flier on a veteran. The club has signed Kenta Maeda to a minor league deal, the Yankees announced Monday, stashing him at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to give them another option should one of their current starters go down. The 37-year-old Maeda, who has spent parts of nine seasons in the big leagues, started this year with the Tigers as a reliever before he was designated for a signment on May 1. He then signed a minor league deal with the Cubs and pitched to a 5.97 ERA acro s 12 starts though it was a 3.55 ERA over his last nine starts before opting out of that deal this weekend. Kenta Maeda #18 of the Detroit Tigers throws a pitch in the ninth inning during a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park on April 27, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. Getty Images Outside of Italy Jersey their current rotation, the Yankees starting depth is e sentially nonexistent. CHECK OUT THE AND Explore More To make room for Luis Gils return from the injured list, they on Friday instead of sending Cam Schlittler to Triple-A banking on Schlittlers high-end stuff and upside over keeping Stroman to maximize their depth. The Yankees also recently who started the year in the rotation but struggled before being DFAd to the Braves. Kenta Maeda #18 of the Detroit Tigers looks on against the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park on April 27, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. Getty Images Currently, their next man up would be Allan Winans, but he has gotten hit around in three games when called up this season. The Yankees are hoping to get swingman Ryan Yarbrough back from an oblique strain at some point for further insurance, but he is still only throwing bullpen se sions and is still at least a few weeks away. Go beyond the box score with the Bombers Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+. Thank you By clicking above you agree to the and . Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Depths a little bit of an i sue for us, manager Aaron Boone said on Friday. I feel really good about our five guys were rolling out there. But not a ton of depth now. Yarbrough is obviously on the comeback and on the mound, so well try to stretch him out a little bit and have him to at least be some kind of length option for us. But depth starter-wise, we dont have a ton. Aaron Judge (right flexor strain) took more live at-bats in Tampa on Monday and then flew to Texas, where he is likely to be activated off the injured list on Tuesday. Mark Leiter Jr. (left fibular head stre s fracture) is with the team in Texas and is also expected to be activated Tuesday. England Jersey