Three Former Major Leaguers Sign In KBO
Former Major Leaguers Michael Bowden and Hector Gomez have signed with teams in the Korea Baseball Organization, according to a report from Yonhap News’ Jee-ho Yoo. Additionally, Naver Sports’ Ji-hyun Kim reports that former Braves right-hander Sugar Ray Marimon has signed with the KT Wiz of the KBO.
Bowden, 29 hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2013 with the Cubs. He has a lifetime 4.51 ERA in 133 2/3 innings in the Major Leagues but enjoyed a very strong season split between the Triple-A affiliates for the Twins and Orioles, logging a combined 2.63 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in 123 innings of work. The Twins had interest in retaining the former Top 100 prospect, tweets 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson, but instead he’ll head to the Doosan Bears for a guaranteed $650K, per an announcement from the Bears. Bowden is a client of Turner Gary Sports.
Gomez, 27, will also receive a one-year, $650K deal to play in the KBO, joining the SK Wyverns, per another team announcement. Gomez picked up 134 plate appearances for the Brewers this season but batted .181/.212/.323 in that time with a homer and 11 doubles. Gomez played second base, third base, shortstop and left field with Milwaukee this season and is a career .298/.341/.512 hitter at the Triple-A level.
The 27-year-old Marimon made his Major League debut with the Braves this season, pitching to a 7.36 ERA in 25 1/3 innings. The Colombian right-hander has experienced far greater success in Triple-A, where he owns a 3.44 ERA with 6.3 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 164 2/3 innings. Per the Naver report above, he’ll receive $600K guaranteed with the Wiz, who were an expansion team in 2015. Marimon is represented by Chris Fanta of Pro Talent Sports Group.
KBO clubs can roster three foreign players, one of whom must be a position player, per league rules. The Wiz were granted four foreign players for the 2015 and 2016 seasons due to their status as an expansion club. Yoo notes that the Wyverns retained American left-hander Chris Seddon ($500K) and right-hander Merrill Kelly ($750K) to round out their international allotment but did not re-sign outfielder Andrew Brown despite a nice first season in 2015. Seddon struggled to a 4.99 ERA in 74 innings with the Wyverns this season but has previously excelled there, logging a 2.98 mark in 187 1/3 innings in 2013. Kelly posted a 4.13 ERA in 181 innings for the Wyverns in 2015 — the first KBO season for the former Rays farmhand. Brown hit .261/.360/.496 with 28 homers in 539 plate appearances with the Wyverns — numbers that are slightly down from his lifetime production at Triple-A.
SK Wyverns Sign Chris Seddon
The SK Wyverns, a team in South Korea, signed lefty Chris Seddon, tweets Dan Kurtz of mykbo.net. The Wyverns have since announced the move. Seddon, 29, tallied 34 1/3 relief inning for the Indians this year and another 123 at Triple-A.
Quick Hits: Pagan, Giants, Indians, Brewers,
A roundup of tonight's links as we have our eyes fixed on the Winter Meetings countdown clock..
- The Phillies continue to go hard on Angel Pagan while Giants look to be short right now on average annual value in a four-year deal, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com. Olney previous reported that the Phillies and Pagan have been talking for weeks.
- Indians General Manager Chris Antonetti says he has interest in re-signing Jack Hannahan, Rafael Perez, and Chris Seddon, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer. All three players were non-tendered on Friday.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin says that he sees a Kameron Loe-type pitcher in the newly-acquired Burke Badenhop, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel. "He's a similar pitcher to Loe," said Melvin. "He might have been a non-tender, so we put the deal together late (Friday) night. Instead of letting him go out on the market where you don't know what might happen, we thought it best to make a trade for him."
Indians Claim Mike McDade, Designate Seddon
The Indians claimed infielder Mike McDade off of waivers from the Blue Jays, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (on Twitter). The Indians designated left-hander Chris Seddon for assignment in a related move.
McDade, 23, posted a .285/.360/.445 with 17 home runs in the upper minors of Toronto's system this past season. Toronto designated him for assignment ten days ago.
Minor Moves: James Skelton, Chris Seddon
Here's where we'll keep track of today's minor moves…
- The Nationals agreed to sign catcher James Skelton to a minor league deal, MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets. The 26-year-old spent the 2011 season with Cincinnati's top affiliates, posting a .221/.360/.346 line in 174 plate appearances.
- The Indians announced that they signed left-hander Chris Seddon to a minor league contract that inlcudes an invitation to Spring Training. The 28-year-old has MLB experience with the 2007 Marlins and the 2010 Mariners, but spent the 2011 season at the Triple-A level, where he posted a 6.27 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 149 1/3 innings of work. He'll enter Spring Training as a starter and at the moment it looks as though he'll provide depth at Triple-A, tweets MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.
Mariners Transactions: Pauley, Koplove, Speigner
The Mariners completed a slew of minor moves today…
- David Pauley was signed to a minor league deal. The 26-year-old spent 2009 in the Orioles system, posting a 4.37 ERA in 152.1 Triple-A innings.
- Mike Koplove was re-signed to a minor league deal. The 33-year-old finished the 2009 in Seattle's system, putting up a 1.87 ERA in 72.1 Triple-A innings. He also pitched in the Phillies' and Pirates' systems last season.
- Levale Speigner also signed a minor league deal. The 29-year-old had a 2.56 ERA while pitching in the Marlins' farm system in 2009.
- The team also signed righty Steven Shell, lefty Chris Seddon, and catcher Guillermo Quiroz to minor league pacts.