DETROIT — Veteran starting pitcher Kenta Maeda, released by the Detroit Tigers last week, has signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago Cubs.

Maeda, 37, appeared in just seven games this season, posting a 7.88 ERA over eight innings. He walked six, struck out eight, hit three batters, and threw two wild pitches.

Maeda signed a two-year, $24 million deal with the Tigers before the 2024 season and began the year in the starting rotation. But he was bounced to the bullpen last July after months of inconsistency.

He performed better in relief, posting a 3.86 ERA in 12 appearances out of the bullpen. He struck out 41 and walked just seven over 42 innings.

After the season, Maeda overhauled his usual winter training routine, starting earlier and throwing harder than he had in years. He arrived at camp with eight bullpen sessions already completed, and his velocity and pitch shapes were in regular-season form.

For the most part, he did well this spring, striking out 19 and walking one over 12 2/3 innings in Grapefruit League games, but it wasn’t enough to beat out a very strong spring from Casey Mize, who won a spot in the starting rotation, and Jackson Jobe, the top prospect who the Tigers were eager to give a big-league opportunity.

Maeda never got on track out of the bullpen in 2025 and as his struggles mounted, there were fewer situations in which he could be safely used.

The Tigers remain on the hook for the remainder of the $10 million Maeda is set to earn this season, though that figure will be defrayed by the prorated portion of the $780,000 MLB minimum for any time he spends on the Cubs’ active roster.

The Cubs haven’t announced an assignment, but Maeda is likely to report to Triple-A Iowa.

Maeda came to the United States in 2016 after a successful tenure in Japan. He spent four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers before being traded to the Minnesota Twins after the 2019 season.

Maeda was the Cy Young runner-up in the COVID-shortened 2020 season but suffered an elbow injury late in 2021 that forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss all of 2022.

There were encouraging signs in his first season back from the procedure. Maeda went 6-8 with a 4.23 ERA over 104 1/3 innings in 2023. He struck out 117 batters (27.3 percent) and walked just 28 (6.5 percent).

That was enough for the Tigers to offer him a two-year deal, the first multiyear contract tendered by team president Scott Harris, who took the helm at the end of the 2022 season.

Maeda will now try to preserve his stateside career with the Cubs. If this doesn’t work out, his next stop may be a farewell tour in Japan.

“He has had success,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell told local beat writers on Friday. “He’s struggled. … It’s a player you’ve got to have constant conversations with and see where we can make some adjustments and see where he’s at.”