Japan’s Orix Buffaloes have announced that they have purchased the contract of righty Tyler Eppler from the Pirates. The 26-year-old appears to have an agreement for an estimated $600K in 2019 salary, per a Kyodo News report.
Though Eppler would have had a shot at making his MLB debut in the near future, he was left unprotected — and went unselected — in the recent Rule 5 draft. Given those circumstances, it’s easy to see why he chose to accept a move to Nippon Professional Baseball, where he’ll have a chance to earn significant money, pitch at the highest level of baseball outside of North America, and perhaps generate momentum for an eventual stateside return.
Eppler is coming off of a strong showing at Triple-A, where he worked to a 3.59 ERA in 153 innings with 6.9 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. The former sixth-round pick also went on to throw well this winter in the Dominican Winter League. Still, he was left without a 40-man spot for 2019 after consecutive seasons at the highest level of the minors.
well, you could have taken billy, you know?
Mystery Team to sign Machado found.
this comment is more brilliant then it gets credit for.
I wish I was making 600k… good for him.
Wouldn’t it just be Buffalo?
Either are correct when referring to the animal, but in this case the team is officially the Buffaloes
This.Changes.Everything.
Stop posting about the Red Sox upgrading at catcher! The team has never even hinted that they feel the need to upgrade. They have no plans or desires to improve at catcher and are happy with Vazquez!. Jesus!
I’m going to go out on a limb and say you clicked on the wrong article….and have rage issues.
LOL! Was thinking the same thing and realized you beat me to it!
Good for Eppler. He could possibly get some MLB action down the road, but it probably wasn’t going to happen soon with the Pirates. He was stuck behind too many other candidates. Now he can make better money and hopefully earn a chance back in the States if he wants one.
This guy has been on top 30 Pirate prospect lists before and although he was a slow mover he had a good year at AAA last year.I was surprised that they did not put him on the 40man roster in place of Agrazal.They obviously do not see much in him even though he is big like they like.It just seems to me that they might be cutting the cord a year too early for someone who may be a late bloomer.He could have been a candidate to replace Nova if given the chance.
This is big news…I forgot all about the wall in Mexico now!
Now we all can get on with our lives