Korea’s Nexen Heroes have announced that they signed right-hander Eric Hacker, as Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News reports (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, on Twitter). Hacker receives a $300K contract.
The move was made after righty Esmil Rogers went down with a broken finger. By releasing him, the club opened another spot for a foreign player. The Korea Baseball Organization allows its member teams to carry three apiece.
Hacker, 35, saw action in parts of three MLB seasons before plying his trade on the other side of the Pacific. He hasn’t looked back since, turning in a strong, five-year run with the NC Dinos.
In 586 2/3 innings over more than a hundred starts, Hacker has worked to a 3.52 ERA in the notoriously hitter-friendly KBO. Last year, he tossed 160 1/3 innings of 3.42 ERA ball, but he had not been pitching competitively thus far in 2018.
As for Rogers, he enjoyed a more significant major-league career in advance of his own move to Korea. But he never found consistent success in seven seasons in the bigs, posting a lifetime 5.59 earned run average.
Rogers previously worked in the KBO in 2016 but returned to North America least year. He threw well in seven late-season Triple-A starts in the Nationals organization, paving the way for a contract with Nexen. Through 13 starts this year, Roges had thrown 83 frames of 3.80 ERA ball with 65 strikeouts and 16 walks.
If you’re interested in catching up on any of the other familiar names currently playing in Korea, take a look at this handy page from MyKBOstats.com.
In 210 games, 454.0 IP, Esmil Rogers’ been worth a cumulative -3.5 WAR. (bbref)
Fangraphs was much more positive: +1.6 WAR.
Amazingly, Esmil Rogers has yet to turn 33.
Dont worry ge will turn 33 one day if he keeps working at it.
I want him to make it in the major leagues. He has 95 mph fastball.
So does Henry Sosa who has been surprisingly good this year in the KBO. Hacker is a solid pitcher too, he’d certainly be better than some of the guys the White Sox and Reds are sending out to start. Sosa, reminds me of an older, healthier version of Michael Pineda,
Hence why WAR is highly flawed
Baseball reference uses an ERA based WAR which can be extremely flawed, However, an FIP based WAR is less flawed.
I wouldn’t say it’s highly flawed if you know how to use it correctly. It’s a lot better than the dinosaur aged stats like Average and Saves.
Most people however, treat it like Batting average and saves.
Eric Hacker was once a Yankees prospect. Esmil Rogers pitched in that Yankees Red Sox marathon game back in September of 2014 and was outstanding. Funny how things work out
He was traded by Cleveland for Yan Gomes. That worked out for the Indians.
I remember Hacker when he was with the Giants. He wasn’t big league quality. He’s still rollin’ along. Good for him.
Bring the GAS CAN back to the Bronx!