Right-hander Daniel Mengden has signed with the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization, the team announced (hat tip to MyKBO.net’s Dan Kurtz). The one-year contract will pay Mengden $425K in salary, a $300K signing bonus, and up to $275K in incentives.
The 27-year-old elected to become a free agent after he was outrighted off the Athletics’ 40-man roster following the season. Mengden only threw 12 1/3 innings in 2020 after recovering from elbow surgery in February, two offseason surgeries to address an intestinal problem, and then a positive COVID-19 diagnosis in early September.
Originally a fourth-round pick for the Astros in the 2014 draft, Mengden was dealt to the A’s as part of the Scott Kazmir trade in July 2015 and he has gone on to spend his entire MLB career in an Oakland uniform. After a pretty rough 2016 rookie season, Mengden has a 4.06 ERA, 2.22 K/BB rate, and 6.0 K/9 over 230 2/3 innings for the A’s since the start of the 2017 campaign, starting 34 of 46 games. Neither a big strikeout pitcher or a grounder specialist, Mengden relies on a lot of soft contact, which has led to decent bottom-line results even if advanced metrics aren’t fond of his work.
Mengden becomes the latest experienced big leaguer to head to the KBO League for a better guarantee of both money and playing time, rather than test a very uncertain North American market. He’ll join former A’s teammate Aaron Brooks on the Tigers roster, as Brooks recently re-signed for a second season with the Gwangju-based team.
A beautiful Christmas gift!
Mengden > Urena
Haase > Greiner
KBO Tigers > DET Tigers
Burgermeister Meisterburger > Al Avila
No comparison… Kia had a winning record… 5 guys hit over .300. 2 in the top 6 in OPS.
Kia has Preston Tucker in their outfield… Detroit has nothing as good.
Urena >>>>>>>>>>>> Mengden
you have not seen Urena pitch, have you?
and before you ask if ive seen Mengden, I have. he threw a CG SHO against us if i remember correctly.
Mengden the Merciless
Gotta love the stache! Did he pitch a no hitter once?
@lefty. Mengden threw a 9 inning 2 hit shutout (both hits by JP Crawford) on 9/15/17.
Mengden will be back.
So the A’s are now the farm team for the KBO?
Mengden will definitely be a massive improvement for the Kia Tigers over Drew Gagnon although Gagnon isn’t bad.
nice add
I thought at first glance I saw Dave Magadan, he’s a little old though
Remember when Mengden was an ‘un-tradeable’ asset for Oakland? Now he has to go overseas to find work. It just goes to show you that most prospects tend to be overvalued by their clubs and even more so by the fans. Hopefully we’ll start seeing some real FA signings and real trades shortly. The Lynn & Bell deals are a good start but we’re starving for some blockbuster deals like Lindor, Story, Arenado, Darvish, etc.
Tips for a successful 2021 season: Trade away your Mengden’s and bring in some proven talent.