Outside of New York Yankees fans, the conclusion of Masahiro Tanaka's move to the majors probably had the biggest effect on Kenta Maeda and the Hiroshima Carp.

Because as Tanaka heads off to the Bronx, and with the next batch of potential uber-talents — namely Shohei Otani and Shintaro Fujinami — still a ways off from a possible MLB move, the spotlight will now be firmly on Maeda as the next contestant in "Who's leaving next?," which Japanese fans will continue to play with superstar players until NPB pulls its head out of the sand and makes the improvements necessary to entice more stars to hang around.

But back to the matter at hand. There will be a great deal of pressure and scrutiny on Maeda as he enters the 2014 season, for reasons both domestic and international.