Headlines

  • Phillies Place Zack Wheeler On Injured List With Blood Clot
  • Red Sox Finalizing Deal With Nathaniel Lowe
  • Marcelo Mayer To Undergo Season-Ending Wrist Surgery
  • Orioles Promote Samuel Basallo
  • Josh Hader Diagnosed With Shoulder Capsule Sprain, Hopes To Return In Playoffs
  • Nationals Request Unconditional Release Waivers On Nathaniel Lowe
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

KBO’s Hanwha Eagles Re-Sign Felix Pena

By Steve Adams | December 13, 2022 at 3:12pm CDT

Right-hander Felix Pena is returning to the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization on a one-year deal that’ll guarantee him $850K, tweets Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

Pena, 33 in February, landed with the Eagles midway through the 2022 season and immediately stepped into their rotation, finding success right out of the gate. He took the ball 13 times, logging a 3.72 ERA and 3.44 FIP with a 24.6% strikeout rate, a 10.2% walk rate and an enormous 70.9% ground-ball rate in 67 2/3 innings. Yoo notes that Pena’s season ended prematurely when a line-drive fractured his nose. Fortunately, it seems he escaped long-term injury.

That 70.9% ground-ball rate vastly outpaced any mark that Pena posted in his pro career in the U.S., although he’d seemingly made that an area of focus in recent seasons. Pena scrapped his four-seamer in favor of a sinker upon joining the Angels in 2018, and he’d turned in a 53.3% grounder rate in Triple-A with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate this past summer before signing in South Korea.

A solid swingman with the Halos from 2018-20, Pena turned in a combined 215 2/3 innings of 4.34 ERA ball with a 23.6% strikeout rate, a 7.7% walk rate and a 43.4% grounder rate during that three-year run. He’s made 24 starts at the MLB level in addition to another 80 relief outings. He suffered an ACL tear with the 2019 Angels, rebounded with a solid 2020 effort and then posted disastrous results both in the Majors and in Triple-A during the 2021 season. A hamstring strain shelved him for the first six weeks that season, and he was clobbered for seven runs in just 1 2/3 frames upon returning. The Halos passed him through waivers and retained his rights, but he surrendered 61 innings in 68 1/3 Triple-A frames over the remainder of the year in Salt Lake.

With another solid KBO showing in 2023, it’s possible that Pena could put himself back on the big league radar, though he’d be a free agent in advance of his age-34 season, which isn’t ideal. If nothing else, another quality year there could open the door for a larger salary upon re-signing a third contract with the Eagles — or perhaps for a jump to Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Regardless, the $850K guarantee on Pena’s deal with the Eagles is more than he’d have earned while spending the majority of the season in Triple-A on a minor league deal with an MLB club, so it’s easy to see why he preferred to return for a full season.

Share 0 Retweet 2 Send via email0

Korea Baseball Organization Transactions Felix Pena

Curt Simmons Passes Away
Main
A’s Designate Ernie Clement, Yonny Hernandez For Assignment
View Comments (7)
Post a Comment

7 Comments

  1. DBH1969

    3 years ago

    Who?

    Reply
    • InherentVice

      3 years ago

      He threw the final 7 innings of a combined no-hitter on the day the Angels memorialized Tyler Skaggs.

      4
      Reply
      • dirkg

        3 years ago

        Yes, Halo fans will forever remember him for that unreal night. I can’t believe this article doesn’t mention his combined no hitter (as of the timing of this post).

        1
        Reply
    • Holy Cow!

      3 years ago

      He earned a ring with the 2016 Cubs.

      2
      Reply
    • Fred McGriff HR

      3 years ago

      @DBH1969

      It is quite apparent you can’t comprehend English, or maybe you’re just ignorant & obnoxious..
      Lock in all of the above.

      Reply
  2. Metsfan9

    3 years ago

    I know a bat boy in a minor league clubhouse and he said Peña is a big clubhouse cancer and an all around jerk. Also didn’t sign one autograph, not even little kids for days. Real class act here

    Reply
  3. andrewf

    3 years ago

    The extremely high groundball rate from the KBO might be misleading as sports info solutions didn’t have trackman data for most KBO parks and thus the batted ball data won’t necessarily be very accurate.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Phillies Place Zack Wheeler On Injured List With Blood Clot

    Red Sox Finalizing Deal With Nathaniel Lowe

    Marcelo Mayer To Undergo Season-Ending Wrist Surgery

    Orioles Promote Samuel Basallo

    Josh Hader Diagnosed With Shoulder Capsule Sprain, Hopes To Return In Playoffs

    Nationals Request Unconditional Release Waivers On Nathaniel Lowe

    Cubs To Promote Owen Caissie For MLB Debut

    Astros Place Josh Hader On Injured List Due To Shoulder Strain

    Mets To Promote Nolan McLean

    Pohlad Family No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Twins

    Felix Bautista, Zach Eflin Done For The Season

    Shane McClanahan Undergoes Season-Ending Arm Procedure To Address Nerve Problem

    2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: August Edition

    Write For MLB Trade Rumors

    Red Sox Extend Roman Anthony

    Buxton: Still No Plans To Waive No-Trade Clause

    Rob Manfred Downplays Salary Cap Dispute With Bryce Harper

    Tanner Houck To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Yankees Release Marcus Stroman

    Cubs Release Ryan Pressly

    Recent

    Guardians To Promote Parker Messick

    Rangers Notes: deGrom, Rotation, Jung

    Anthony Bender Sustains Season-Ending Leg Injury

    Twins’ Alan Roden Weighing Thumb Surgery

    Angels Outright Connor Brogdon

    Paul Blackburn Clears Release Waivers

    Poll: How Will Kyle Tucker Finish 2025?

    Orioles Outright Jordyn Adams

    Francisco Alvarez Could Play Through Thumb Injury But Will Require Surgery Eventually

    Víctor Robles Given 10-Game Suspension For Bat-Throwing Incident

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version