Pitchers Daniel Mengden and Kirk McCarty have signed with the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan, according to CPBL Stats. The CTBC Brothers have also re-signed pitcher José De Paula, who has been playing in Taiwan since the 2020 season (per CPBL Stats).
Mengden, 31 in February, played six seasons in the majors, with a brief stop-off in the KBO in between his fifth and sixth MLB campaigns. He was drafted by the Astros in 2014 but traded to the Athletics the following summer as part of the return package for Scott Kazmir. The righty made his debut in Oakland the year after that, and over the next five seasons, he appeared in 60 games (48 starts) for the A’s, tossing 302 2/3 innings with a 4.64 ERA.
After being designated for assignment and electing free agency, Mengden spent the 2021 season with the Kia Tigers in the KBO, making 21 starts with a 3.60 ERA. Most impressively, he threw 120 innings, more than he ever reached in a single season in MLB. He returned stateside in 2022, signing a minor league deal with the Royals and earning a couple of big league call-ups, tossing 109 innings at Triple-A Omaha and another seven with Kansas City. He then split the 2023 season between the Royals’ and Nationals’ organizations, although his 7.25 ERA kept him from earning another call to the show.
McCarty, 28, was drafted by Cleveland in 2017, where he slowly rose through the minor league ranks before making his MLB debut in 2022. He was DFA’d that summer and briefly picked up by the Orioles, but less than two weeks later he was DFA’d again (having pitched just one game for Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate) and wound up back in Cleveland. Overall, he appeared in 13 games during his one and only big league season, tossing 37 2/3 innings and posting a 4.54 ERA and 4.57 SIERA.
While McCarty has far less MLB experience than Mengden, he’s coming off a strong season with the SSG Landers in Korea. He signed with the Landers in November 2022, shortly after he was released by the Guardians, and went on to make 24 starts in his lone KBO season, pitching to a 3.39 ERA over 130 frames. Presumably, Mengden and McCarty will both join the CTBC Brothers rotation in 2024.
Those two will be joining mainstay De Paula, who has led the team in innings pitched each of the the past four seasons. Soon to be 36, the southpaw first played affiliated ball for the Padres organization in 2007 and briefly appeared in the majors with the Yankees eight years later. However, he has more recently made a name for himself in foreign leagues; he spent two years playing in Mexico from 2018-19, and since 2020 has pitched for the CTBC Brothers in Taiwan. He was named the CPBL MVP in each of his first two seasons and has continued to succeed into his mid-thirties; in 2023, he made 27 starts with a 3.53 ERA.
Niekro floater
Reverse Ohtani’s … love bein up on international news.
Fraham_
Who’s Leo Morgenstein
TrumboRedux
Never heard of him. Leo Morgenstern is a semi-new writer here though. Less than 6 months I think. Could be wrong.
runningwithnailclippers
His first article was back on August 10th of last year, if you wanted to know. 🙂
TrumboRedux
Thanks Running. I was looking under his bio here and it didn’t list a date.
Bucket Number Six
thebeaverton.com/2023/01/report-middle-urinal-thir…
TrumboRedux
Bucket, Leo is obviously insane. He should feel right at home around here. Can’t wait till he hosts a live chat. I have a few follow up questions for him after reading about the “thirsty urinal.” Mainly, why he himself didn’t use the middle one. And since nobody used it, did anyone eat off of it or use it as a table of sorts during lunch hour?
spooky
Excellent article
TrumboRedux
My favorite part was seeing Scott Kazmir’s name again. He will be making another comeback any minute now. Halo’s or Rays to sign..His Bday is coming up in a few days. 40th. He’ll probably sign then.
deGrom/Langford Texas Ranger
The Brotherhood? Quite manly
Monkey’s Uncle
Oh, Brothers!
SODOMOJO
THE STACHE LIVES
cheapseater
How can you write a story about Mengden and not discuss his amazing windup?