ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Kenta Maeda was cut by the Detroit Tigers on Thursday to open a spot in the bullpen for hard-throwing prospect Tyler Owens.

Maeda was designated for assignment after compiling a 7.88 ERA over seven relief appearances in the second season of a $24 million, two-year contract. Detroit has seven days to trade or release him, or send him outright to the minors if he clears waivers.

The 37-year-old right-hander has enough major league service time that he could refuse a minor league assignment and choose to become a free agent instead.

“It’s tough because when he was good, he really helped us, and when he struggled, we really didn’t get him back on track, so it’s a frustrating end to his time here,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said before Thursday night’s series opener against the Los Angeles Angels.

Owens was recalled from Triple-A Toledo.

“We do want to create opportunities for the young players and the young pitchers, and we’re really excited about Tyler and some of the adjustments we asked him to work on at the beginning of the season to get his velocity and execution where it needs to be,” Hinch said.

Maeda went 3-7 with a 6.09 ERA in 29 games last season, including 17 starts. He was demoted to the bullpen after posting a 7.26 ERA in his first 16 starts, but had some success in a relief role with a 4.44 ERA in 46 2/3 innings.

But after failing to win a rotation spot this spring, Maeda, who missed the 2022 season because of Tommy John surgery, struggled in a mop-up role, his velocity down and the command of his splitter spotty.

“We were pretty excited with how he was throwing, how he was moving, this spring, but when we got into the season, he wasn’t the same person we saw in the spring or last season, when we moved him to the bullpen,” Hinch said. “He tried to tweak a few things, but it wasn’t producing the stuff coming out of his hand or the results.”

Maeda had many of his best seasons in Los Angeles, where he went 47-35 with a 3.87 ERA in 137 games — including 103 starts — for the Dodgers from 2016-19.

Then he was 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 11 starts for Minnesota during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, finishing second in AL Cy Young Award balloting.

Owens, whose fastball sits between 96-98 mph, went 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 12 games for Toledo, striking out 11 and walking nine in 14 innings.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb