Although the contract Kenta Maeda is expected to complete in the coming days with the Los Angeles Dodgers is for eight years, it will likely be a bargain for a pitcher with such a solid track record in Nippon Professional Baseball.

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the guaranteed portion of the deal will be just $25 million, giving Maeda an average salary only slightly higher than the one he leaves behind with the Hiroshima Carp. The Dodgers will also be required to pay the Carp's posting fee, expected to be the maximum of $20 million. The reported sweetener to the deal for the Carp ace is a pile of incentives.

An MLB scout who has watched the 27-year-old Maeda since he turned pro in 2007 recently gave the following assessment.