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KBO’s Hanwha Eagles Release Nick Kingham

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The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization announced Thursday that they’ve placed former Pirates and Blue Jays righty Nick Kingham on release waivers. He’ll become a free agent upon clearing, while the Eagles (who just signed Yefry Ramirez) will be in the market for another pitcher. KBO clubs can roster up to three foreign players by rule (with a maximum of two pitchers).

Kingham’s release certainly wasn’t due to performance — he’s been excellent for the Eagles dating back to last season — but rather due to an arm issue that has plagued him throughout the season, as first reported by Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency. Kingham was shelved after just three appearances this year due to the injury, and Yoo writes that it flared back up in a recent bullpen session as he tried to work his way back. The team originally called the issue an upper arm strain, per Yoo, but I’m told that Kingham is dealing with bone spurs in his pitching elbow and will need surgery to remove them. That will sideline him for the foreseeable future but should have him ready to pitch for the 2023 season.

Given his former prospect pedigree and pre-injury success in the KBO, Kingham’s release is somewhat more interesting than the standard KBO release. Although he’s clearly not at full strength at the moment, he’s a former top-100 prospect who was pitching at a high level overseas prior to the injury. In 160 1/3 innings with the Eagles, Kingham posted a 3.13 ERA with a 22.5% strikeout rate, a 7.0% walk rate and a huge 62.6% ground-ball rate.

Obviously a release from the KBO, whether due to injury or performance, isn’t a typical path back onto the big league radar. Any Major League interest in Kingham will depend on both his recovery and the extent to which teams bought into the 6’5″ righty’s success. There’s been some clear, tangible change in his skill set at the very least, as Kingham never posted a ground-ball rate of even 50% in any full season (Major or Minors) but was at 60.5% in 2021 and 79.5% in his 16 1/3 innings this year. He’s reworked and ramped up the usage of both his changeup and curveball since signing overseas, which has contributed to the shift in his batted-ball profile.

Whether that leads to interest from big league teams —  be it on a small Major League deal or a likelier non-guaranteed deal and Spring Training invite — remains to be seen. Barring that, Kingham ought to have renewed interest from clubs in both the KBO and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He’ll pitch all of next season at age 31, so even if he ends up heading back to South Korea or jumping over to Japan, there’s still ample time for Kingham to put himself back in contention for a spot on a big league roster if he can continue to build on the strides he’s already made with the Eagles.

Yefry Ramirez Signs With KBO’s Hanwha Eagles

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Right-hander Yefry Ramirez has signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization, per a team announcement from the Eagles (hat tip: Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net, on Twitter). He’ll earn a total of $600K for the remainder of the season, Kurtz adds. Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency tweets that Ramirez will replace former big league lefty Ryan Carpenter, who was released by the Eagles this week.

Ramirez, 28, has appeared in parts of three big league seasons, most recently with the Dodgers in 2021. He opened the 2022 campaign with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate and pitched to a 3.76 ERA in 40 2/3 frames with their top affiliate in Oklahoma City. Ramirez appeared in a game as recently as three days ago, suggesting the Dodgers and Eagles either came to terms on a buyout of his minor league contract or that Ramirez had an opt-out or foreign play clause written into his contract.

In 91 2/3 big league innings, Ramirez has a 6.19 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate. He’s been better in Triple-A, where he holds a 4.36 ERA through 288 2/3 frames to go along with a 24.1% strikeout rate and 9.8% walk rate. Ramirez will hope to follow the path of many players before him who’ve carved out strong numbers overseas and eventually cashed in on a Major League return. At the very least, that $600K salary is healthier than what he’d have earned in Triple-A for the remainder of the season (even with an eventual call to the Majors). He’ll also set himself up for the chance to re-sign for another six- or even low seven-figure deal with the Eagles, should he enjoy a solid half-season audition.

As for the 31-year-old Carpenter, he appeared in 15 games for the 2018-19 Tigers and struggled heavily in the Majors before signing on with the Rakuten Monkeys of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League for the 2020 season. He threw well enough in Taiwan — 4.00 ERA in 157 1/3 innings — to draw interest from the KBO’s Eagles the following offseason. Since signing with the Hanwha club prior to the 2021 campaign, Carpenter has turned in a solid 3.83 ERA in 188 frames with better than a strikeout per inning. However, Yoo writes that Carpenter sustained an elbow injury after just his third start of the 2022 season and, upon being activated last week, exited his first game back with recurring discomfort in that left elbow.

Anthony Alford Signs With KBO’s KT Wiz

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Last night, the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization announced agreement on a contract with outfielder Anthony Alford. It’s a $577K deal for the Jet Sports Management client (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO).

A former third-round pick of the Blue Jays, Alford blossomed into one of the sport’s top outfield prospects in pro ball. The Mississippi native drew plaudits from evaluators for his combination of power and athleticism, and he posted excellent numbers during his time in the low minors. Alford appeared among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects each year from 2016-18 and reached the big leagues in 2017, but he never carved out a permanent role.

Injuries played a significant part in that, as Alford has spent time on the injured list in each of the past six years. A 2017 hamate fracture in his left hand and a fractured right elbow in 2020 have proven the most significant maladies, but he has also had IL stints for hamstring and back issues. When healthy, he’s struggled to make contact against higher-level arms.

Alford has tallied 240 MLB plate appearances between the Jays and Pirates, hitting .209/.275/.368 with a 37.9% strikeout rate. He has popped eight home runs and swiped 11 bases in that limited time, flashing the kind of power-speed impact that had garnered attention. Yet his swing-and-miss concerns have led the Pirates to outright him off their 40-man roster in each of the past two seasons.

Following his most recent outright, Alford elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Guardians. He appeared in eight games with their top affiliate in Columbus but has been granted his release to pursue the opportunity with the Wiz. He’ll presumably lock in a loftier salary for the remainder of the season than he’d been receiving in Columbus. Still just 27 years old (28 in July), Alford would no doubt draw interest from affiliated teams down the line if he stays healthy and performs well.

The defending KBO champions, the Wiz have started this season just 20-25. They’ve now signed a pair of former major leaguers during the season in an effort to change their fortunes, adding Alford a week after landing left-hander Wes Benjamin.

KBO teams are limited to carrying three foreign-born players on their roster, so the Wiz released former Diamondbacks outfielder Henry Ramos in a corresponding move. Ramos, who played in 18 games with Arizona last season, hit .250/.304/.417 across 80 plate appearances with the Wiz. Kurtz notes that he hasn’t played since late April after fracturing a toe on his right foot.

Wes Benjamin Signs With KBO’s KT Wiz

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Wes Benjamin has signed with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, according to reports out of South Korea. He’ll make $331K in salary for the prorated portion of the season and is expected to report to the team early next month.

Benjamin, 28, had been in the White Sox organization after signing a minor league deal in February. The left-hander had started seven games with Triple-A Charlotte, posting a 3.82 ERA with a solid 24.6% strikeout rate across 30 2/3 innings. That seemed to make him a viable rotation depth candidate for a ChiSox club that hasn’t gotten much from back-end starters Vince Velasquez and Dallas Keuchel. It doesn’t appear Benjamin was on the verge of a big league call, though, and the Sox granted him his release to pursue this opportunity in Asia.

While Benjamin didn’t make it to the majors with Chicago, he appeared at the game’s highest level in each of the previous two seasons. Suiting up with the Rangers — the team that selected him out of the University of Kansas back in 2014 — he made 21 appearances from 2020-21. Benjamin tossed 45 frames of 6.80 ERA ball as a swing option in Texas.

KBO teams are capped to three foreign-born players on the active roster. In order to accommodate Benjamin’s addition, the Wiz had to part ways with a foreign player. They released Venezuela native William Cuevas, ending his three-plus year run in Suwon. Cuevas posted a 3.89 ERA in 486 1/3 frames with the Wiz, but he’s only made two starts this year because of an elbow injury (h/t to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News). The right-hander pitched in the majors with the Red Sox and Tigers between 2016-18.

Kwang-Hyun Kim Signs Four-Year Deal With KBO’s SSG Landers

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Kwang-Hyun Kim is returning to South Korea. The former Cardinals southpaw has a four-year deal with the SSG Landers, his former team in the Korea Baseball Organization (relayed by Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap). He receives a guarantee of approximately $12.3MM.

Daniel Kim reported this morning the Landers had tendered a status check on the southpaw. That indicated they were interested in bringing the Seoul native back to South Korea, and he and the team wrapped up a deal fairly quickly thereafter. Kim starred for the Landers (then known as the SK Wyverns) for the entirety of his career before making the jump to MLB over the 2019-20 offseason.

He’ll now return to the Incheon-based club, with whom he made his professional debut as an 18-year-old back in 2007. By his second season, he’d developed into a high-end starting pitcher. He posted a 2.39 ERA across 162 innings during his sophomore campaign, kicking off a stretch of three consecutive years with an ERA below 3.00. Kim didn’t quite sustain that kind of run prevention long-term, but he’d log 130+ frames with a sub-4.00 mark in five of his next eight seasons. That included a 2.51 ERA in a personal-best 190 1/3 innings in 2019, a strong showing that set the stage for him to come to North America the following winter.

The Wyverns made Kim available to MLB teams via the posting process, and he landed with the Cardinals on a two-year, $8MM deal. 2020 proved an anomalous year, as the season was delayed, shortened and played without fan attendance. Teams also had to deal with tight COVID-19 protocols, and the Cardinals’ season was put on hold for a couple weeks by a virus outbreak that necessitated a spate of late-season doubleheaders.

That was no doubt an especially stressful time for a player acclimating to a new environment and league, but Kim performed well in his first MLB season. He worked to a 1.62 ERA over 39 innings, compensating for a mediocre 15.6% strikeout rate by throwing a solid amount of strikes (7.8% walk percentage) and inducing ground-balls on over half the balls in play against him. Kim certainly benefited from the Cardinals’ stellar infield defense and an inflated 86.6% strand rate, but he also showed the makings of a capable rotation piece.

He backed that up over a greater body of work last year. Kim tallied 106 2/3 frames with a 3.46 ERA, again succeeding despite a lack of missed bats and a fastball that typically checked in around 90 MPH. His 47.4% grounder rate remained above-average, and he found success both in an early-season rotation role and in a bullpen stint after some elbow inflammation sent him to the injured list in mid-August.

Between his two seasons, Kim tallied 145 2/3 frames of 2.97 ERA ball. Fielding independent metrics (4.22 FIP and 4.89 SIERA) indicate he was probably fortunate to keep runs off the board at that clip. Yet even had his ERA been more aligned with peripherals that suggested he was a back-of-the-rotation arm, he’d have still easily outperformed the cost of the Cards’ modest investment.

In all likelihood, those will prove Kim’s career numbers at the big league level. He’s 33 years old (34 in July), so the four-year term will keep him with the Landers through his age-36 season. While it’s possible he could try to explore another jump to MLB at that point, it’s more probable he’ll play out the remainder of his career in his home country.

Kim’s return to Korea may also be the first instance of the ongoing lockout definitively leading a player to leave the majors. As recently as mid-February, it appeared as though Kim had intended to wait out the work stoppage and continue his MLB career. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored at the time, he appeared to have a shot at a multi-year deal. Kim’s ground-ball tendencies, control and excellent numbers when facing batters the first time in an outing made him an intriguing option for clubs seeking both rotation and left-handed relief help. With teams barred from communicating with major league free agents for more than three months (and counting), he’ll bypass that uncertainty and return to a familiar setting with the Landers on a long-term deal.

That’s not to say Kim “settled” for a return to Korea. His deal is worth 15.1 billion won, not coincidentally topping 15 billion won deals for Sung-bum Na and Dae-ho Lee that had previously been the largest guarantees in KBO history. Setting that record is presumably a point of pride for Kim, and he’d not have garnered a four-year guarantee had he remained in MLB. However, big league teams may have been willing to offer more than the roughly $3.075MM in average annual salary he’ll make on this deal had it been a typical offseason. A few other players have made the jump from MLB to foreign pro leagues this winter, but Kim would probably have garnered the most interest of that group had teams been able to keep in contact with his reps over the past few months.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Cardinals Sign Aaron Brooks To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals announced Monday that they’ve signed righty Aaron Brooks to a minor league deal. The Paragon Sports International client received a non-roster invitation to Major League Spring Training. He was eligible to sign a minor league during the lockout by virtue of the fact that he was a minor league free agent returning from a stint overseas.

Brooks, 31, is a veteran of four big league seasons but has spent the 2020-21 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization, where he’s notched a tidy 2.79 ERA in 229 1/3 innings for the Kia Tigers. While Brooks hasn’t missed many bats pitching overseas — he posted a rather pedestrian 20.1% strikeout rate — he’s demonstrated excellent command and posted practically inhuman ground-ball rates. Brooks has walked just 4.4% of his opponents in the KBO, and it’s hard to think of a much better team to take advantage of his outrageous 78.4% ground-ball rate than the defensively stout Cardinals.

This past season, St. Louis had a staggering five Gold Glove winners, including three in the infield: first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, second baseman Tommy Edman and third baseman Nolan Arenado. Shortstop Paul DeJong had a rough season offensively that cost him some reps in the infield as the Cards looked to get more offense into the lineup, but DeJong is regarded as a standout defender himself — evidenced by last year’s plus-6 Defensive Runs Saved and a career plus-36 mark in 4366 innings at the position.

Royals, A’s and Orioles fans may remember Brooks for his big league work across those three franchises. A ninth-round pick by Kansas City back in 2011, he made his MLB debut with K.C. in 2014-15 but was traded to the A’s alongside Sean Manaea in the swap that brought Ben Zobrist to the 2015 World Series champion Royals.

The A’s wound up trading Brooks to the Cubs in exchange for Chris Coghlan back in 2016, setting off a sequence of scenery changes for Brooks over the next several years. He went from Chicago to Milwaukee via waivers, and the Brewers traded him back to Oakland in exchange for cash. Brooks’ second stint with the A’s lasted about a half season, as the Orioles claimed him on waivers the following summer and, after the 2019 campaign, released him to allow him to pursue his KBO opportunity.

While making the rounds on the trade/waiver circuit, Brooks appeared in 47 big league games and tallied 170 2/3 frames with an uninspiring 6.49 ERA. He was never much of a ground-ball pitcher during his prior stints in the big leagues, so it seems he’s done some work to reinvent his approach on the mound while pitching in South Korea. If he’s able to replicate that KBO success in Triple-A, it’s likely the Cardinals will find a way to get him onto the big league roster in 2022.

The Cards already have a full rotation, but adding some depth along these lines was a clear need. Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson, Miles Mikolas and offseason signee Steven Matz are set to occupy the top five spots in the St. Louis rotation, but a lack of starting depth nearly sunk the 2021 Cards when they saw their entire rotation outside of Wainwright hit the IL by June. Brooks joins in-house options like Jake Woodford, Johan Oviedo, T.J. Zeuch and Angel Rondon on the depth chart, and the Cards are surely also hopeful that prospects Matthew Liberatore and Zack Thompson can reach the Majors in 2022.

Recapping The KBO League’s International Player Signings

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With the lockout slowing MLB-related transactions to a crawl of minor league deals, transactions involving Korean Baseball Organization teams have taken more of a spotlight on MLBTR’s pages since the start of December.  These moves have included the signings of several names familiar to North American baseball fans, as the KBO League’s clubs have looked to address their allocated three roster spots for non-Korean players.  International-born players can only sign contracts worth a maximum of $1MM in total salary, and players new to the KBO League can sign only one-year pacts.

Though the Doosan Bears have one signing that still isn’t yet official, the other 29 slots have been filled.  It is still possible this list could be adjusted in the coming weeks due to a number of factors — injuries, players returning to North America (for personal reasons or a deal with an MLB team), issues related to the pandemic, or teams just changing their minds after seeing the players in training camp.  Here is the rundown of this winter’s international signings for the 10 KBO League franchises….

Doosan Bears
Jose Miguel Fernandez (deal not yet finalized), Ariel Miranda, Robert Stock

NC Dinos
Nick Martini, Wes Parsons, Drew Rucinski

Hanwha Eagles
Ryan Carpenter, Nick Kingham, Mike Tauchman

Lotte Giants
Charlie Barnes, DJ Peters, Glenn Sparkman

Kiwoom Heroes
Tyler Eppler, Eric Jokisch, Yasiel Puig

SSG Landers
Kevin Cron, Wilmer Font, Ivan Nova

Samsung Lions
David Buchanan, Jose Pirela, Albert Suarez

Kia Tigers
Socrates Brito, Sean Nolin, Ronnie Williams

LG Twins
Casey Kelly, Adam Plutko, Rio Ruiz

KT Wiz
William Cuevas, Odrisamer Despaigne, Henry Ramos

KBO’s Doosan Bears Close To Re-Signing Jose Miguel Fernandez

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The Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization are close to re-signing Jose Miguel Fernandez, reports Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News. This would be the fourth season with the Bears for Fernandez, who turns 34 in April.

Fernandez was a high-profile signing of the Dodgers in 2017, after defecting from his native Cuba in 2015. In 2017, he played 90 games in Double-A and three in Triple-A, producing an overall slash line of .306/.367/.496. Despite that solid production, the Dodgers released him at the end of the year. He was signed by the Angels and spent most of 2018 in Triple-A, hitting an excellent .333/.396/.535. That was enough to get him selected to the big league club, playing 36 games and hitting .267/.309/.388. That small sample is the only MLB experience on his resume, as he signed with the Bears after that season.

Fernandez has had three straight excellent campaigns for the Bears, with at least 141 games played and 15 home runs in each of them. His overall line from 2019 to 2021 is .334/.403/.476, walking more than he struck out in that time, 184 to 131. Now it appears he will be suiting up for the Bears for a fourth straight season in 2022, his age-34 campaign.

As noted by Yoo, each KBO team except for the Bears has filled their three slots for foreign players. The Bears have used two so far, on Ariel Miranda and Robert Stock. If the signing of Fernandez is completed, that would mean all the league’s roster spots for non-Korean players are spoken for.

KBO’s Kia Tigers Sign Sean Nolin

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The KBO League’s Kia Tigers have signed left-hander Sean Nolin to a one-year contract.  As per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News, Nolin will earn $600K in guaranteed money ($250K signing bonus, $350K salary) and up to $300K more in incentives.

Nolin had re-signed with the Nationals on a minor league contract back in November, but it appears as though the club released him so Nolin could pursue the opportunity in the Korea Baseball Organization.  This isn’t Nolin’s first time playing abroad, as he previously pitched in Japan with the Seibu Lions in 2020, tossing 21 1/3 innings with the NPB club.

The southpaw followed up that brief NPB stint with a return to North American baseball, via a minor league deal with the Nats that eventually led to a big league call-up.  With 26 2/3 innings of 4.39 ERA ball with Washington, Nolin banked his first Major League action since way back in 2015, when he pitched for the A’s.  Once a notable prospect in the Blue Jays farm system, Nolin pitched 31 1/3 MLB innings from 2013-15 before injuries waylaid his career, including a Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for all of the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Over 670 1/3 career frames in the minors with six different big league organizations, Nolin has a solid 3.48 ERA and 24.11% strikeout rate.  He has worked as both a starter and a reliever, giving the Lions some flexibility in how they might deploy him on their 2022 roster.

Robert Stock Signs With KBO’s Doosan Bears

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Free-agent Robert Stock will sign with the Doosan Bears of the KBO for $500K in guaranteed money over one year. He can earn an additional $200K in incentives, per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (via Twitter).

News first broke of Stock’s potential signing on New Year’s Day. As noted in this initial write-up from MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald, Stock posted solid numbers in Triple-A with the Cubs and Mets last season, though he was slowed by injuries.

In his fourth consecutive season seeing time in the bigs, Stock made three starts in the Majors, one for the Cubs, and a pair with the Mets. In Triple-A, however, he managed to post a very good strikeout rate of 26.2% and an acceptable walk rate of 8.1%, as well as an overall 3.57 ERA over 35 1/3 innings.

Stock has mostly been a reliever throughout his career. His three starts this season were his first in 55 games of big-league experience. Even in the minors, he has just 13 career starts. The 32-year-old seems likeliest to pitch out of the bullpen for the Bears, though he wouldn’t be the first player to re-invent himself upon arrival in the KBO. That said, the Bears reportedly like Stock’s big arm, with a fastball that averaged more than 96 mph and the ability to hit triple digits.

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