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Drew Anderson Re-Signs With KBO’s SSG Landers

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Right-hander Drew Anderson has re-signed with the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization, per a club announcement (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO). Anderson will earn $1.2MM in 2025, with $50K available in incentives.

Anderson, 30, last played in the majors back in 2021. A 21st-round pick by Philadelphia in the 2012 draft, the righty made his big league debut in 2017 and spent the next half-decade bouncing between the major and minor leagues with the Phillies, White Sox, and Rangers organizations. In that time, he struggled to a 6.50 ERA in 44 1/3 innings of work at the big league level despite decent peripherals, including a 4.35 FIP. During the 2021-22 offseason, Anderson was released by the Rangers and opted against searching for a new stateside deal. Instead, he headed to Japan to pitch for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Hiroshima Carp on a $1MM deal.

The right-hander ultimately spent two seasons in NPB, and pitched quite well during that time. Anderson posted a 3.05 ERA in 115 innings across 34 appearances for the Carp in total, striking out 20.7% of opponents while walking just 8.4%. That was enough to earn him some stateside attention during the 2023-24 offseason, and Anderson landed with the Tigers on a minor league deal back in January. The right-hander failed to make Detroit’s Opening Day roster, however, and after just nine appearances with Triple-A Toledo the Tigers agreed to release him so he could head to South Korea and play for the Landers.

Anderson slotted into the Landers’ rotation alongside former big leaguers Kwang Hyun Kim and Roenis Elias and pitched fairly solidly in his first year of KBO play. While the right-hander’s 3.89 ERA was hardly exceptional, his 115 2/3 innings of work was his most in a season since 2018 and and he struck out an excellent 31.9% of opponents faced. That massive uptick in strikeout rate came with an elevated 10.7% walk rate, but that firepower makes it easy to imagine Anderson finding greater success with the Landers in 2025 and potentially getting the attention of MLB clubs once again next winter.

Should Anderson wish to make it back to the big leagues, there’s certainly reason for optimism that he’ll be able to do that. The KBO has served as a proving ground for other hurlers who struggled in their first taste of big league action in the past. Merrill Kelly is one standout example of a player who pitched in the KBO before returning to stateside ball to make a name for himself, and right-hander Erick Fedde landed a $15MM guarantee from the White Sox just last offseason after a dominant 2023 campaign in South Korea.

Reds, Royals Reportedly Discussing Jonathan India Trade

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The Reds and Royals are discussing a trade that would send second baseman Jonathan India to Kansas City in exchange for right-hander Brady Singer, according to a report from C. Trent Rosencrans and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Rosenthal adds that a deal between the sides is not considered close and that India is one of “several” hitters the Royals are looking at as they consider dealing from their rotation depth.

India, 28 next month, is coming off something of a rebound campaign in 2024. After averaging just 111 games per season in each of the past two years with below average offensive numbers while dealing with hamstring issues and a bout of plantar fasciitis in his left foot, he posted his best season since winning the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year award this past year. In 637 trips to the plate across 151 games this year, India slashed a respectable .248/.357/.392 (108 wRC+) while slugging 15 homers and stealing 13 bases. He also struck out just 19.6% of the time while walking at a 12.6% clip, making him one of just three players (alongside Freddie Freeman and Juan Soto) to strike out in less than 20% of his plate appearances with a walk rate of at least 12%.

That impressive discipline at the plate makes India a valuable asset even as his power and speed numbers fall short of 20/20 potential. Just five qualified second basemen posted better offensive seasons by measure of wRC+ than India did last year, and his 2.8 fWAR ranks seventh at the position. On the surface, losing that production would seem to be debilitating for a Reds offense that was bottom-five in baseball by measure of wRC+ in 2024. With that being said, it’s worth noting that India appeared likely to enter 2024 without a clear position to call home until 2023 Rookie of the Year finalist Matt McLain missed the entire 2024 campaign due to shoulder surgery and top prospect Noelvi Marte missed the first half of the season due to an 80-game PED suspension.

Marte struggled badly (31% strikeout rate, 46 wRC+) in 66 games with the Reds this year after returning from his suspension, but McLain proved to be a dynamic offensive force for the club in his 89-game rookie campaign back in 2023. Then just 23 years old, the youngster slashed an excellent .290/.357/.507 (127 wRC+) with 16 homers and 14 steals in just 403 plate appearances. If he can produce anything close to that level of offensive firepower over a full season in 2025, that would more than make up for the loss of India’s bat from the lineup. It’s possible the club could find a way to keep both second basemen in the lineup—McLain has gotten a handful of reps at third base and in center field during his recent stint in Arizona Fall League— but with TJ Friedl just one season removed from a 3.9-win campaign in center and the Reds unlikely to give up on Marte after less than half a season in the majors, it could make sense for the club to cash in on India now.

One sensible way for the club to do that would be targeting a quality rotation arm like Singer. Both Singer and India are under control through the end of the 2026 season, making the swap a fairly clean one from a team control perspective. India is guaranteed a $5MM salary for 2025 and is arbitration eligible for 2026, while MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Singer for an $8.8MM salary in his penultimate trip through arbitration this winter. That slight net increase in salary commitment likely wouldn’t be a problem for a Reds club that plans to run a payroll “at or above” 2024 levels next year, giving them some breathing room financially for next season.

In Singer, the Reds would receive a quality mid-rotation arm to pair with Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo behind staff ace Hunter Greene. The 28-year-old righty pitched to a solid 3.71 ERA (114 ERA+) with a 3.94 FIP in 179 2/3 innings of work across 32 starts last year. That’s a major step forward from a disastrous 2023 season that saw him post a 5.52 ERA in 159 2/3 frames, but not quite at the level of his 153 1/3 innings of 3.23 ERA ball the year prior. Overall, Singer has pitched to a 4.15 ERA (103 ERA+) with a 3.94 FIP over the last three seasons, which sets up a solid floor for the right-hander looking forward even if he doesn’t return to the level of production he flashed in 2022.

With Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, and Michael Wacha all locked into the club’s rotation for 2025, it makes plenty of sense for the Royals to explore trades from their crop of back-end arms that includes not only Singer but also Kyle Wright, Alec Marsh, and Kris Bubic. Those latter two names have already found themselves in the rumor mill this winter, and Rosenthal’s report confirms the Royals are still “entertaining” the possibility of moving either Marsh or Bubic instead of Singer, though he adds that Lugo, Ragans, and Wacha are all understood to be “essentially off-limits.” With that being said, he notes that teams interested in contending immediately prefer Singer to both Marsh and Bubic and the Royals would likely have to settle for a younger, less established hitter if they were to deal either of their lesser arms.

Bringing India would be a somewhat complicated fit for the Royals, however, as it would likely displace incumbent second baseman Michael Massey. Massey enjoyed the best season of his career in 2024, slashing .259/.294/.449 with 14 homers and a 102 wRC+ in 356 trips to the plate while playing around back issues early in the season. Both Massey and India have played second base almost exclusively in their careers to this point, though Massey has one appearance at the hot corner and the Reds toyed with the idea of playing India at first base or in left field last year before losing McLain for the season. It’s certainly feasible to imagine the Royals finding appropriate playing time for both players by utilizing the DH on days where Salvador Perez is catching, especially if India can also mix into the outfield on occasion.

Phillies Sign Nicholas Padilla To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies have signed right-hander Nicholas Padilla to a minor league deal, according to the transactions tracker on Padilla’s MLB.com player profile page. Padilla has updated his personal Instagram page to reflect his new team.

Padilla, 27, was a 13th-round pick by the Rays back in 2015 but struggled somewhat in the lower minors as a starter before eventually converting to relief in 2019. He pitched well at Single-A in 2019, his first full season out of the bullpen, with a 3.48 ERA and a 26.3% strikeout rate in 62 innings of work. That wound up being his last work in the Rays organization, however, as Padilla did not pitch during the cancelled minor league season in 2020 and was selected by the Cubs during the minor league phase of that year’s Rule 5 draft.

The right-hander kicked off his Cubs career at the High-A level in 2021 but pitched just 1 2/3 innings that year before being sidelined by injury. Once he was healthy again in 2022, he rapidly rose through the minor leagues. After dominating the High-A and Double-A levels early in the season, Padilla found himself promoted to Triple-A and pitched excellent in ten appearances with the Iowa Cubs. In those 14 2/3 innings of work, Padilla struck out 28.8% of opponents while posting a sterling 1.23 ERA. That was enough for the Cubs to give him a taste of big league action, as he was selected to the roster and made the 27th man during a doubleheader against the Cardinals.

That big league cup of coffee lasted just one game, however. Padilla pitched 1 2/3 innings of work for Chicago, where he surrendered one run on two hits and two walks while notching a strikeout, but was designated for assignment just two weeks later. That brought an end to his Cubs career as he was claimed off waivers by the crosstown White Sox, though he did not make an appearance for them down the stretch after being optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

Padilla eventually made his debut on the south side in May of 2023, but rode the shuttle between Triple-A and the majors that year to make just three appearances in the big leagues. His performance in both the majors and minors was somewhat lackluster, as he posted a 5.79 ERA in 4 2/3 big league innings and a 5.52 ERA across 44 Triple-A appearances that year. He was outrighted off the club’s roster last November but remained with the club throughout the 2024 season. He posted a 2.92 ERA with a 30.3% strikeout rate in 37 innings of work this year but did not make it to the big league level and elected free agency earlier this offseason.

Now Padilla will join the fourth organization of his career in hopes of catching on with Philadelphia. For the Phillies, Padilla offers a depth arm for the club’s bullpen who is capable of pitching multiple innings in relief, a role that could be useful for them to have depth for given the departure of Spencer Turnbull in free agency earlier this month. Of course, the club’s up-and-coming young pitchers such as Andrew Painter, Seth Johnson, and Mick Abel could all contribute in that role, or perhaps even bump veteran Taijuan Walker out of the rotation following a difficult 2024 campaign and into that long relief role. Given that, Padilla would likely need to impress in Spring Training to snag a 40-man roster spot out of camp or wait for injuries to create space in the club’s bullpen throughout the 2025 campaign.

Cardinals, Jose Barrero Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals and utility man Jose Barrero are in agreement on a minor league deal, according to a report from Francys Romero. Per Romero, the deal also includes an invite to big league Spring Training.

Barrero, 27 in April, came up in the Reds organization and received some top-100 prospect buzz following his debut in the shortened 2020 season despite hitting just .194/.206/.194 in 24 games that year. He never quite lived up to that promise as he struggled to establish himself offensively at the big league level, slashing just .184/.248/.267 in the majors from 2021 to 2023 with Cincinnati. Despite that lackluster offensive production in the majors, he has shown some signs of life at the Triple-A level throughout his career. In particular, Barrero hit an impressive .258/.333/.540 with 19 homers, 17 doubles, and 20 stolen bases in just 334 trips to the plate at Triple-A Louisville during the 2023 campaign.

That was Barrero’s final season with the Reds, as he was designated for assignment in March of 2024 when Cincinnati decided he wouldn’t make the club’s active roster despite having no minor league options remaining. That led him to be plucked off waivers by the Rangers, although he was once again designated for assignment in the run-up to Opening Day in order to make room for Jared Walsh on the club’s roster. This time, however, he went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. Unfortunately for Barrero, he wouldn’t crack the majors with the Rangers as he hit just .188/.277/.346 in 49 games with the club’s Round Rock affiliate in an injury plagued season that saw his season debut delayed until May and his final game played on July 4.

Now that Barrero is presumably healthy, however, he elected free agency earlier this month and hit the open market for the first time in his career. That opened the door for him to sign on with the Cardinals, who enter the winter facing plenty of uncertainty as trade rumors swirl around veteran players such as Nolan Arenado. Given the possibility of trades from the club’s positional corps this winter, adding a versatile defender like Barrero could make sense as a potential bench option should he perform in the spring, or even as a non-roster depth piece to protect against injury throughout the year should he remain in the minors.

Barrero’s path to playing time in St. Louis is somewhat complicated, however. The 26-year-old has primarily played shortstop and center field to this point in his career, but the Cards have rookie Masyn Winn locking down shortstop while defensively-gifted youngsters Michael Siani and Victor Scott II figure to vie for regular playing time in center next year. Even so, Barrero could find use as a versatile utility option, as he’s played every position besides first base and catcher throughout his career. It’s even possible that Barrero, should he make his way onto the St. Louis roster next year, finds some playing time as a platoon partner for either Siani or Scott in center field, as both are left-handed hitters with unimpressive offensive numbers against southpaws.

Connor Brogdon Elects Free Agency

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Dodgers right-hander Connor Brogdon went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per the transaction log at MLB.com. He elected minor league free agency. The move clears a spot on L.A.’s 40-man roster before next week’s Rule 5 protection deadline.

Brogdon, 29, only appeared in one game with the Dodgers this season, allowing a pair of runs in one inning. Los Angeles acquired him from the Phillies in an April swap after he’d been designated for assignment in Philadelphia. (The Dodgers sent minor league left-hander Benony Robles the other way.)

Brogdon hit the 15-day injured list due to plantar fasciitis just days after that Dodgers debut, and the issue proved severe enough that he didn’t make it back to the active roster. Brogdon originally went on a rehab assignment a few weeks after his initial IL placement, but the Dodgers scrapped that effort and transferred him to the 60-day IL. He started another rehab assignment in August but didn’t make it back before season’s end.

Prior to his time with the Dodgers organization, Brogdon looked like a promising up-and-coming reliever in Philadelphia. The former tenth-round pick signed for only a $5K bonus out of the draft but pitched his way to the big leagues in three years’ time, looking sharp to begin his MLB tenure. From 2020-22, Brogdon turned in a combined 3.42 ERA in 113 innings, fanning one-quarter of his opponents against a 7.3% walk rate in that time. Brogdon averaged 95.8 mph on his heater, and while he was hobbled at times by groin and elbow issues, he generally delivered solid results.

He’s only managed 32 innings in the majors since that time. In addition to the foot injury that wiped out his 2024 season, Brogdon saw his command, strikeout rate, velocity and other key stats all trend the wrong direction in 2023. The Phillies sent him to Triple-A to get sorted out, but he was rocked for an ERA north of 5.00 there with an uncharacteristic 13% walk rate.

Brogdon’s rehab work in Triple-A this season was strong, albeit in a small sample of 13 innings. He held opponents to five runs (3.46 ERA) with a huge 33.9% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate. His fastball, however, was down quite a ways from its 96 mph peak, instead sitting at 93.8 mph in those brief looks in Oklahoma City. He’ll carry a career 3.97 ERA in 145 big league innings with him to the market, so Brogdon should generate plenty of interest so long as his foot is healthy.

Dodgers, Joe Jacques Agree To Minor League Contract

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The Dodgers reached agreement with reliever Joe Jacques on a minor league contract, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (X link). The Gaeta Sports Management client receives an invite to big league Spring Training.

Jacques elected minor league free agency a few weeks ago. He’d been squeezed off the Diamondbacks’ roster midseason. Arizona designated him for assignment when they acquired A.J. Puk a week before the trade deadline. Jacques cleared waivers and spent the rest of the season on an outright assignment to Triple-A Reno.

A 6’4″ lefty, Jacques has pitched in the majors in each of the past two seasons. He made 23 appearances for the Red Sox in 2023, turning in 26 2/3 innings of 5.06 ERA ball. Jacques only pitched twice in the majors this year — once apiece for the Sox and D-Backs. He gave up three runs in as many innings. The Manhattan College product pitched in 40 games in the minors, all but one of which came at the Triple-A level. He allowed 5.48 earned runs per nine across 42 2/3 innings. Jacques struck out 20.7% of batters faced while issuing walks at a slightly elevated 10.6% clip.

Like a lot of lefty relievers, Jacques relies on a sinker-slider/sweeper combination. He doesn’t throw hard, sitting in the 90-91 MPH range with his fastball. That limits the swing-and-miss upside, but he has done an excellent job keeping the ball on the ground. Jacques induced grounders at a 60.4% clip en route to a 2.54 ERA in Triple-A in 2023. He has a similarly impressive 61.9% ground-ball percentage in his MLB career. He’ll vie for a situational role in Spring Training. Anthony Banda, Alex Vesia, Zach Logue and youngster Justin Wrobleski are the only left-handers on L.A.’s 40-man roster.

Diamondbacks Sign Aramis Garcia To Minor League Deal

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The D-Backs signed catcher Aramis Garcia and shortstop Connor Kaiser to minor league contracts. Both players will get invites to big league camp. The deals were announced by Arizona’s Triple-A club in Reno.

Garcia, 32 in January, has more big league experience of that duo. The righty-hitting catcher has appeared in parts of five MLB seasons, logging 119 games between four teams. That included three games and seven hitless at-bats with the Phillies this year. Garcia isn’t much of an offensive threat. He’s a career .211/.248/.325 hitter with a 35.8% strikeout rate across 327 plate appearances. He had an even poorer showing in the minors this past season, hitting .159/.216/.279 while punching out nearly 36% of the time in 76 Triple-A games.

Teams are always on the hunt for catching depth, so the Snakes will send Garcia to Reno to begin next season. Statcast hasn’t graded him favorably for his blocking skills but credits him with a plus arm. Garcia did a nice job controlling the run game in Triple-A this year. He cut down more than 32% of attempted basestealers over 584 innings behind the plate.

Kaiser, who turns 28 next week, is a glove-first infielder. A former third-round pick of the Pirates, he got into three big league games with the Rockies in 2023. That’s the extent of his MLB work. Colorado outrighted Kaiser off their 40-man roster midway through that season. He spent this year with the Rox’s top farm team in Albuquerque. Despite playing in an extreme hitter’s park, the Vanderbilt product put up a .221/.343/.339 line through 347 plate appearances. Kaiser took his share of walks but stuck out at a near-32% clip. He’s also likely to begin next season in Reno, potentially in a utility capacity.

Don Ferrarese Passes Away

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Former big league lefty Don Ferrarese passed away earlier this month. He was 95.

Ferrarese was an Oakland native who attended Saint Mary’s in the Bay Area. He began his minor league career in 1948. It took seven seasons for the southpaw to reach the majors with the Orioles. He briefly appeared in the big leagues at age 25 in 1955. Ferrarese worked in a swing capacity for the next couple years. Baltimore traded him to the Indians early in the ’58 season in a deal that netted future All-Star southpaw Bud Daley (whom the O’s would trade to the A’s weeks later).

After one season in Cleveland, Ferrarese was on the move again. The Indians dealt him to the White Sox in a six-player swap. Ferrarese logged limited action with the Phillies and Cardinals before the end of his playing career in 1962. He pitched for five teams over an eight-year MLB run. Ferrarese turned in an even 4.00 earned run average across 506 2/3 innings. He started 50 of 183 appearances, won 19 games and recorded 350 strikeouts. MLBTR sends our condolences to Ferrarese’s family and friends.

Orioles Talking To “High-End” Free Agent Pitchers; Camden Yards’ Left Field Dimensions To Be Changed

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Orioles general manager Mike Elias took part in a video call with reporters (including the Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, and MLB.com’s Jake Rill) today, sharing a few guarded details about the club’s offseason pursuits and a major development for Camden Yards’ outfield dimensions.  Elias revealed that the ballpark will have a new left field wall that will be significantly shorter and closer to home plate than the wall that has been in place for the last three seasons.

The old wall will remain in place, stretching from the 373-foot mark in the left field crevice and extending to the Orioles’ bullpen.  However, an unoccupied open area will now sit between the wall and the new left field wall, which Elias said will be closer to home plate by “as much as 20 feet; in others, it’ll be more like 11 feet and as little as nine.”  The deepest distance from home plate to the left-center area of the old wall was 398 feet, but that distance will now be a more manageable 376 feet.  The old wall was also 13 feet high, whereas the new wall’s height will range from 6’11” at its shortest to nine feet tall at its highest.

“Our hope is, by pulling the dimensions in a little bit…that we will be able to get closer to what our initial goal was: a neutral playing environment that assists a balanced style of play at a park that was overly homer-friendly prior to our changes in 2022.  It is now a little overly skewed given what we did back then,” Elias said.

Heightening the wall back in 2022 happened to coincide with a big improvement in the Orioles’ play, as the team has since reeled off three straight winning seasons (and two playoff appearances) due to a marked upgrade in pitching performance.  Baltimore’s 3.94 team ERA ranks tenth in baseball over the last three seasons, and the pitching staff has allowed the ninth-fewest homers (523) of any club in that same span.

According to Statcast’s Park Factor metric, righty batters had more trouble hitting homers at Camden Yards than at almost any other ballpark, save for Cleveland’s Progressive Field and Pittsburgh’s PNC Park.  Unfortunately, this extended to the Orioles’ own batters as well as opposing hitters.  As Rill breaks down the numbers, the Orioles lost more home runs (72) than opponents (65) did at Camden Yards since Opening Day 2022.

“I think it’ll be easier for right-handed hitters to produce power numbers at this park, there’s no question about it.  We wanted, and we want, a park that is neutral, tilting toward pitcher friendliness,” Elias said.  “But, the disparities between the two sides of the park were not the intent, and it had created some dramatic differences and it affected player personnel thought and outcomes in a way that we weren’t anticipating when we made the move.”

Three years of data has now convinced Elias that the past renovations “overcorrected” the initial problem of Camden Yards being too homer-friendly.  Elias made a point of noting that the dimensions weren’t being changed to make it easier for the O’s to attract free agent hitters (particularly right-handed bats), as the GM said that the 2022 alterations weren’t intended as a “permanent” fix in the first place.

“In many ways this may make the park less attractive for pitchers, which is one of the reasons that I initially made this change,” Elias said.

The timing is interesting, as the rotation is certainly a key need for the Orioles this winter.  Corbin Burnes is a free agent and the top arm available on the open market (in the view of MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents list and many other pundits), leaving Baltimore with a projected top four of Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer, and Albert Suarez in the starting five.  Cade Povich and Trevor Rogers are among the candidates vying for the fifth starters’ job at the moment and Kyle Bradish or Tyler Wells could emerge when or if they recover from UCL surgeries at some point in 2025, but there’s no doubt that this pitching staff could use some reinforcement.

To this end, Elias said the Orioles are considering “the whole spectrum” of pitching upgrades.  “If you’re running the team optimally….you’re certainly wanting to keep the whole menu of player acquisition open.  That involves high-end free agent deals over many years.  We’ve been engaged in those conversations already.”

It has been widely expected that the O’s have a higher spending capacity under new owner David Rubenstein than in past years when the Angelos family was controlling the team.  Elias gave “credit [to] the ownership change for putting us in the position to” at least check in at every level of the market, though he again stressed that more payroll flexibility doesn’t mean the Orioles are going to suddenly “spend money indiscriminately this offseason come hell or high water.”

Baltimore has already been linked to Max Fried in early free agent pursuits, as well as interest in White Sox southpaw Garrett Crochet on the trade front.  It can be assumed that the Orioles will consider a reunion with Burnes, even if that would likely be the priciest possible way to add to the rotation.  Since Burnes’ departure would recoup the Orioles a compensatory draft pick, the team could opt to let Burnes walk to gain that draft capital, thus perhaps making the O’s more comfortable about surrendering picks if they signed a qualifying offer-rejecting free agent of their own.

Mitch White Signs With KBO League’s SSG Landers

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The SSG Landers announced that right-hander Mitch White has agreed to a one-year, $1MM contract with the Korea Baseball Organization team.  White elected to become a minor league free agent at season’s end, after he was previously outrighted off the Brewers’ 40-man roster back in June.

A second-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2016 draft, White drew some top-100 attention during his time in the Los Angeles farm system, and he cracked the big leagues during the shortened 2020 campaign.  White posted a 3.58 ERA, 22.02% strikeout rate, and 8.31% walk rate over 105 2/3 innings with the Dodgers from 2020-22, working as either starter or reliever based on the team’s needs.

L.A. often shuttled White back and forth between Triple-A and the majors as part of this swingman role, and ultimately found him expendable enough to be dealt to the Blue Jays at the 2022 trade deadline.  The deal seemingly derailed White’s career, as the right-hander has badly struggled against MLB hitters since leaving the Dodgers organization.  He posted a 7.74 ERA in 43 innings for the Jays for the rest of the 2022 season, and a 7.18 ERA in 36 1/3 innings since Opening Day 2023.

White’s 2024 workload of 23 2/3 innings was split between Toronto, San Francisco, and Milwaukee.  The Giants picked White up from the Jays after Toronto designated him for assignment in April, and the Brewers acquired him a few weeks later after the Giants also sent him to DFA limbo.  White’s only time in the minor leagues was spent with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate, and his numbers (4.06 ERA, 27.2% strikeout rate, and 8.8% walk rate) were at least a marked improvement over his time in the Show.

Since White’s chances of landing a guaranteed contract from a Major League team this winter weren’t great, the move to South Korea allows White (who turns 30 in December) the opportunity to lock in a seven-figure salary.  A strong showing with the Landers could put White back onto the radar for MLB teams next offseason, if he has interest in making a fairly quick return to North American baseball.  Playing in the KBO League also some additional personal appeal to White, whose mother is Korean.

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