On Tuesday, Kenta Maeda told the Hiroshima Carp for the third straight year that he wants to be posted. But unlike the past two autumns, Carp GM Kiyoaki Suzuki has kept the door open.

Suzuki has in the past said, “when it’s the best time for him, the team and the fans,” and “when he performs like an ace,” adding that Maeda’s case is much stronger now then it was two years ago.

The best time for Maeda is now.

But for the team, which thrives on underpaying its stars while merchandising the heck out of them, it is obviously not the best time. The penurious Carp would lose a year from Japan’s best pitcher (at the moment) at a cost of around $3 million as well as licensing revenue from shirt sales and other trinkets in exchange for $20 million it can still collect a year from now.

As for the fans, as much as they’d live watching Maeda on TV pitching in the majors, having him in red with the promise of pennant contention would be better.

The Carp began play in 1950 and went 25 years without a pennant. After a stretch 17 seasons as a CL powerhouse, 2015 was the club’s 24th straight season without a league title.