Japanese starting pitcher Kenta Maeda was posted the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the NPB last Friday, and it will cost a team $20 million just to negotiate with the player. One of the teams interested in signing Maeda is the Arizona Diamondbacks.

According to Yahoo! Sports, the Diamondbacks are the early favorites to land the Japanese right-hander as they have shown public interest since last year. The Diamondbacks are looking for a no. 2 starter to help newly signed ace Zack Greinke anchor the rotation.

Greinke surprised many when he chose the Diamondbacks and signed a six-year, $206 million contract that will pay him $34.3 million annually, the record value for an annual salary in history, per MLB.com. If signed, Maeda will join Greinke, Patrick Corbin, Rubby De La Rosa and Robbie Ray in Arizona's rotation.

The 27-year-old Osaka-native has won the Japanese Central League Pitcher of the Year in the past two seasons, winning 15 games in the 2015 season with a 2.09 ERA. He has an impressive career record of 97-67 in eight seasons in the NBP with 2.39 ERA and 1,233 strikeouts, per Baseball Reference.

However, Maeda's potential is just seen as a middle-of-the-rotation starter who can give a team innings. He does not possess the arm power of Japanese aces like Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka. According to MLB Trade Rumors, the estimated contract Maeda receives is about $60 million for five years.

Besides the Diamondbacks, the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are all expected to bid for Maeda's posting rights, per Yahoo! Sports. Even if the Diamondbacks fail to sign Maeda, they have other options via free agency and the trade market to acquire another starter.

Today's Knuckleball notes that the Diamondbacks are still interested in Mike Leake and are expected to talk about a possible contract in Nashville at the Winter Meetings that started last Dec. 6 and is scheduled to end on Dec. 10, Thursday. Johnny Cueto turned down a six-year, $120 million offer from Arizona just last week.

As for the trade market, Shelby Miller of the Atlanta Braves is still a possibility even after a failed trade talk between the two teams. Jose Quintana of the Chicago White Sox is also available and has $21 million left on his contract, which is very team-friendly, while the Cleveland Indians are listening to offers for Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar.

The Diamondbacks have a lot to offer with a surplus of talents in the outfield that include Ender Inciarte, David Peralta, A.J. Pollock and Yasmani Thomas with prospects like Socrates Brito and Peter O'Brien waiting for their opportunity.