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Astros To Select Corey Julks, César Salazar

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The Astros informed reporters of a handful of roster decision this afternoon (relayed by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com and Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). Most notably, outfielder/third baseman Corey Julks and catcher/first baseman César Salazar are making the Opening Day roster. Neither player is yet on the 40-man roster, so the club will have to formally select their contracts in the next few days.

Houston will carry three catchers to start the season, as backstop Yainer Diaz is also breaking camp behind veteran starter Martín Maldonado. Díaz is already on the 40-man after making his MLB debut late last season. Catcher Korey Lee, outfielder Bligh Madris, infielder/outfielder J.J. Matijevic and infielder Rylan Bannon were all optioned, while non-roster invitees Dixon Machado, Justin Dirden, Austin Davis and Ty Buttrey were reassigned to the minor leagues.

Julks is a Texas native who attended the University of Houston. An eighth-round pick by his hometown club in 2017, he’s played five minor league seasons. The 27-year-old had a strong season with Triple-A Sugar Land last year, hitting .270/.351/.503 with 31 home runs and 22 stolen bases in 27 attempts. Baseball America slotted him as the #27 prospect in the Houston system this offseason as a result, the first time he’d placed among the organization’s top 30 farmhands. The outlet credits him with roughly average tools across the board and suggests he could step immediately step in as a fourth outfielder. He’ll earn that opportunity after a .275/.318/.550 showing in 40 plate appearances this spring.

Salazar, also 27, was a seventh-round pick in 2018 out of the University of Arizona. The 5’9″ backstop spent the majority of last season with Double-A Corpus Christi. He posted a solid .277/.350/.489 line while connecting on 16 longballs in 85 games. Salazar only walked at a 6.8% clip but kept his strikeouts down to a modest 16.5% rate. While he only has 18 games of Triple-A experience, the Astros are confident he’ll be able to handle the jump to take on big league arms. He’ll add a left-handed bat to the bench and give skipper Dusty Baker some added flexibility to sub out Maldonado for a pinch-hitter as long as Houston carries three catchers.

Diaz is one of the organization’s best offensive prospects. The 24-year-old only got into six MLB contests last year but combined for a .306/.356/.542, 25-homer showing in the minors. He adds a bat-first complement to Maldonado behind the dish and could also see occasional starts at first base or designated hitter.

Houston will need to create a pair of spots on the 40-man roster. Placing second baseman Jose Altuve on the 60-day injured list feels like an inevitability, as he won’t begin baseball activities for two months after fracturing his thumb. Starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. could be another 60-day IL candidate as he’s slowed by a forearm strain, though general manager Dana Brown was noncommittal on that possibility today (via Rome).

Astros’ Options To Cover Second Base In Altuve’s Absence

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The Astros announced this afternoon star second baseman Jose Altuve underwent successful surgery to repair the right thumb fracture he suffered in the World Baseball Classic. He won’t begin baseball activities for two months and will obviously need some time to work back into game shape from that point forward.

Given that timetable, it’s hard to envision Altuve playing in a big league game before June. Houston finds itself in a virtually unheard of position entering a season with some uncertainty at the keystone. Whomever gets the nod next Thursday against the White Sox will be the first player other than Altuve to start at second base on Opening Day since Bill Hall 12 years ago.

Houston general manager Dana Brown addressed the situation this afternoon (link via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). The first-year GM didn’t rule out the possibility of going outside the organization for infield help but suggested the club preferred to address it with in-house players. “We’re going to look internally first. We have a good, core group of guys here,” Brown said. “We’ll exhaust what we have here in the organization because we do have some good players and we’ve always been interested in depth, (but) sometimes to acquire that depth you have to go outside the organization.”

If the club were to make an addition, it’d presumably be a low-cost depth move. Altuve will obviously take the job back once he’s healthy. It probably doesn’t make much sense to pursue a trade for someone like Isiah Kiner-Falefa; rather, the likelier course of action could be to look to a free agent like Jonathan Villar or a veteran who could opt out of a minor league deal elsewhere before Opening Day.

If the Astros stay internal or merely add a veteran to Triple-A Sugar Land as depth, a pair of players stand out as favorites for second base reps.

David Hensley

Hensley, 27 next week, only has 20 games of big league experience. Four of them came in the postseason, including a pair of starts in the World Series. Those came after a late-season promotion on the heels of an excellent .298/.420/.478 showing in 464 plate appearances with Sugar Land. He only hit 10 home runs but connected on 30 doubles and four triples. More impressively, the right-handed hitter worked walks at an elite 17.2% clip against an average 22.2% strikeout rate. Among Triple-A hitters with 400+ PA’s, only Will Benson had a better on-base percentage while just Jon Singleton, Benson, John Andreoli and Delino DeShields Jr. drew walks at a higher clip.

The San Diego State product now ranks as the #5 prospect in the Houston system at Baseball America. Regarded as a bat-first utility infielder, he predictably draws praise for his plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills. He’s not regarded as a great defender but could offer a decent floor from an on-base perspective towards the back of the Houston lineup.

Mauricio Dubón

Dubón, acquired from the Giants last May, offers a very different profile than Hensley. He’s a versatile up-the-middle defender who makes a ton of contact but rarely walks. He’s played 262 MLB games over parts of four seasons, hitting .244/.287/.366 with a 17.2% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk percentage. That’s well below-average offense but he’s held a roster spot on the strength of his glove. Public metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average have graded him positively at each of second base, shortstop and in center field.

The Honduras native is out of minor league option years. That means the Astros will have to carry him on the active roster if they don’t want to risk losing him. Considering they agreed to a $1.4MM contract to avoid arbitration this offseason, it’s hard to envision they’d let him go. Dubón will be on the roster and could see a decent amount of action at second base but might not hit enough to be a regular.

Depth Options

Offseason waiver claim Rylan Bannon is an option at second or third base. The 26-year-old has only played five MLB games. He’s coming off a .249/.367/.421 showing over 99 games in Triple-A and has attracted interest from a handful of teams on the waiver wire. Houston added glove-first veteran Dixon Machado on a minor league deal over the winter. He’s a .226/.285/.292 hitter in parts of five MLB seasons and has struggled at the plate this spring. Minor leaguers Grae Kessinger and Will Wagner have performed well during non-roster looks in camp but likely aren’t immediate options considering neither has yet played a game at Triple-A.

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Houston’s lineup should remain one of the league’s best even in Altuve’s absence. Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, José Abreu and Jeremy Peña are capable of driving a strong run-scoring group. Still, it’s obviously far from ideal to have both Altuve and Michael Brantley open the season on the shelf as Houston gets their title defense underway. In all likelihood, they’ll be counting on one of Hensley or Dubón to step up early in the year to fill the void.

Astros, Dixon Machado Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Astros have agreed to a minor league deal with infielder Dixon Machado and invited him to Major League Spring Training, per a team announcement.

A longtime Tigers farmhand, the now 30-year-old Machado saw Major League time in parts of four seasons with Detroit, hitting a combined .227/.285/.295 in 505 trips to the plate from 2015-18. Lack of MLB success notwithstanding, Machado has a solid track record in the upper minors and, after a nice showing with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in 2019, signed with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization in 2020.

Machado spent two years in the KBO, both with the Giants, and batted a combined .280/.359/.393 in 277 games there. That showing netted him a minor league pact to return to the Cubs, who flipped him to the Giants in a depth swap prior to the trade deadline. Machado went 3-for-15 in five big league games with San Francisco before being cut from the 40-man roster and heading back to Triple-A. Between the Cubs and Giants, Machado appeared in 121 Triple-A games and hit .291/.372/.391.

All told, Machado has logged parts of five seasons in Triple-A, batting .267/.347/.373 in 2222 plate appearances at the top minor league level. He’s a versatile infield defender with experience at all four positions, albeit just 43 innings at first base. The vast majority of Machado’s professional work has come at shortstop, where he’s logged more than 11,000 innings and drew positive reviews from scouting reports dating back to his prospect days.

The addition of Machado is generally a depth signing for the Astros, though with Aledmys Diaz reaching free agency this winter, the door for Machado to make the team and seize a utility role is perhaps a bit more open than it would’ve been in offseasons past. Mauricio Dubon and David Hensley are both on the 40-man roster and both give the ’Stros a potential utility infielder for 2023, though Hensley has minimal Major League experience.

34 Players Become Free Agents

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The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.

None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

Giants Outright Dixon Machado

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Infielder Dixon Machado went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento by the Giants, tweets Evan Webeck of the San Jose Mercury News. The Giants designated Machado for assignment just a week after acquiring him from the Cubs in a minor swap that sent 30-year-old righty Raynel Espinal to Chicago. Machado’s acquisition helped the Giants to patch a brief infield need with Thairo Estrada in concussion protocol and veterans Brandon Crawford (knee inflammation) and Evan Longoria (minor oblique strain) all on the injured list. That trio has since been reinstated, pushing Machado from the roster.

It’s uncommon to see a team give up a player in move designed as only a short-term stopgap, but Espinal is a 30-year-old right-hander who’d signed as a minor league free agent, pitched to a 5.29 ERA with San Francisco’s top affiliate in Sacramento, and can again become a minor league free agent at season’s end. Viewed through that lens, the Giants didn’t exactly surrender any potential long-term value in the swap, which will simply provide the Cubs with a bit of rotation depth in the final couple months.

Machado, also 30, appeared in five games and took 17 plate appearances with the Giants, hitting .200/.294/.200 in that tiny sample. He’s had a nice season in the upper minors, batting .312/.402/.394 in 391 plate appearances during his first season back in North American ball after a nice showing in the Korea Baseball Organization. Machado spent the 2020-21 campaigns with the KBO’s Lotte Giants and turned in a .280/.359/.393 in 1095 plate appearances. His power and prowess on the basepaths both faded in his second KBO season, but Machado posted nearly identical batting averages (.280, .281) and on-base percentages (.356, .361) in two otherwise consistent seasons abroad.

Because he’s been outrighted in the past, Machado will have the opportunity to reject this assignment in favor of free agency. There’s been no indication to this point that he plans to do so, however. Assuming he indeed sticks with the Giants for the remainder of the season, he’ll give them some depth behind veterans Longoria, Crawford, Estrada, Wilmer Flores and Tommy La Stella over the final couple months. He can again be a free agent at season’s end.

Giants Reinstate Brandon Crawford, Joc Pederson; Designate Dixon Machado

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The Giants announced that shortstop Brandon Crawford has been activated from the 10-day injured list, while outfielder Joc Pederson is also back after being activated from the seven-day concussion IL.  To create roster space, San Francisco optioned infielder David Villar to Triple-A and designated infielder Dixon Machado for assignment.

Crawford has been battling soreness in his left knee for most of the season, and the injury has resulted in two trips to the IL for the veteran shortstop within the last six weeks.  This latest IL stint sidelined Crawford for a little over three weeks, and it is possible that the lingering nature of this problem could lead to Crawford getting a few more days off than usual over the final two months of the regular season.

Coming off a career year in 2021, Crawford’s knee issues could be partially to blame for his dropoff this season, as the shortstop is hitting only .215/.297/.332 over 279 plate appearances.  There’s still time for Crawford to get on track and finish the year in more respectable fashion, even if it might be too late for the Giants to get back into the wild card race.

With the Giants moving some veteran players at the trade deadline, it is quite possible he might’ve been moved had it not been for his concussion symptoms.  The good news, however, is that Pederson is able to make a quick return after hitting the concussion-IL on July 29, so he doesn’t appear to be dealing with any lingering after-effects.  The slugger is hitting .242/.319/.492 with 17 home runs over 285 PA, and his first-half performance earned a slot on the NL All-Star roster.

It could be a very short stay in the Giants organization for Machado, who was just acquired in a trade with the Cubs on July 31.  San Francisco was in a crunch for shortstop depth with Crawford and Thairo Estrada both on the IL, and thus Machado provided some short-term help.  Machado’s five games with the Giants represented his first MLB playing time since 2018, as he has since been playing in the KBO League and with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate.

Giants Acquire Dixon Machado From Cubs

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3:15PM: The Giants announced the trade to reporters, including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, with minor league righty Raynel Espinal going the other way. The 30-year-old made his MLB debut last year, logging just two innings for the Red Sox. The Giants signed him to a minor league deal for this year, with Espinal working as a starter in Triple-A. In 19 games, he has thrown 81 1/3 innings with a 5.29 ERA. He has an impressive 27.6% strikeout rate for the year but below-average walk and ground ball rates of 10.3% and 39%.

As expected, Thairo Estrada was placed on the concussion IL to make room for Machado on the active roster, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com was among those to relay. To make room on the 40-man roster, righty Tobias Myers was designated for assignment. Myers began the season with the Guardians but went to the Giants in a trade earlier this month. Between the two clubs, he’s thrown 63 innings in Triple-A this year with a 6.14 ERA.

2:42PM: The Giants have officially acquired Machado, Morosi reports.  ESPN’s Jesse Rogers adds the interesting detail that Machado requested a trade, likely in order to land on a team that could offer him big league playing time.

2:09PM: The Giants are looking to acquire infielder Dixon Machado from the Cubs, as MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link) reports that the two sides are in talks.  It isn’t known if this could be part of a larger multi-player swap, or if Machado would be the primary player involved.

It is quite possible it could be a cash-considerations type of minor move, as Machado hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2018.  The Giants are also in particular need of shortstop help, as injuries have drastically thinned out their shortstop depth chart at both the Major and minor league levels.  Brandon Crawford is on the 10-day injured list recovering from a knee injury, while Thairo Estrada was hit in the head by a pitch yesterday and is expected to be placed on the seven-day concussion IL.

After appearing in 172 games with the Tigers from 2015-18, Machado has since played with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in both 2019 and 2022, with two seasons with the KBO League’s Lotte Giants sandwiched in between.  Over those four years, Machado posted some solid averages and developed a knack for getting on base, even if his power was sporadic at best (though he did hit 17 home runs during the homer-happy 2019 Triple-A season).

This year at Triple-A Iowa, Machado has hit .312/.402/.394 with two homers and 10 steals (in 13 chances) over 391 plate appearances.  While Machado has played as a shortstop for the vast majority of his pro career, the 30-year-old has also seen some action at second and third base, making him a good fit for the Giants’ preferred model of versatile players.

Cubs Announce Seven Minor League Deals

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The Cubs announced a series of minor league deals with invitations to Major League Spring Training on Friday, signing infielder Dixon Machado, infielder Ildemaro Vargas, righty Jonathan Holder, catcher P.J. Higgins and lefty Locke St. John. The Cubs also confirmed previously reported minor league deals with lefty Stephen Gonsalves and righty Mark Leiter Jr.

Machado, 30 in February, spent parts of four seasons as a backup infielder with the Tigers from 2015-18 before spending the 2019 season with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Iowa. From there, he signed on with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization, serving as their primary shortstop in 2020-21 and hitting a combined .280/.358/.393 with 17 home runs, 52 doubles, two triples and 23 steals (in 29 tries) over the life of 1095 plate appearances. Regarded as a quality defender, Machado hit just .227/.285/.295 in 505 Major League plate appearances in Detroit, though he posted a .261/.371/.480 slash in 102 games/393 plate appearances with the Cubs’ Iowa affiliate in 2019.

The 30-year-old Vargas spent nine game with the Cubs in 2021 — a season he split between Chicago, Arizona and Pittsburgh. A versatile defender who’s appeared at all four infield positions and both outfield corners in the big leagues, Vargas is a switch-hitter with a .233/.268/.355 batting line in parts of five MLB seasons with four teams. (He’s also been with the Twins, in addition to three already-listed clubs.) He’s had much more success in Triple-A, where he’s a .324/.368/.472 batter in 1736 plate appearances.

Holder, 28, looked to be on the path toward cementing himself in the Yankees’ bullpen as recently as 2017-18, when he logged a combined 105 1/3 innings of 3.42 ERA ball with a 22.6% strikeout rate and a tiny 6.1% walk rate. Holder had a pair of IL stints for shoulder troubles in 2019, however, the second of which ended his season in early August. He finished that year with an ugly 6.31 ERA, and he managed just a 4.98 mark in 21 2/3 innings with the Yankees a year later, posting career-worst walk and strikeout rates along the way.

This will actually be Holder’s second season in the Cubs organization. He signed a non-guaranteed, $750K Major League deal with Chicago last winter after being non-tendered by the Yankees, but recurred shoulder woes wiped out the year for him. Holder opened the season on the 10-day IL with a shoulder strain, moved to the 60-day on April 26, and never returned. He ended the season on the Major League injured list and would’ve been considered a big league free agent who was ineligible to sign, but it seems (based on Holder’s transaction log at MLB.com) that this deal was actually finalized on Nov. 19 but simply not announced until today.

It’s a similar story for the 28-year-old Higgins, who was on the Cubs’ Major League injured list at season’s end but became a free agent after being outrighted in early November. Like Holder, his player page at MLB.com indicates that this deal came together on Nov. 19 but wasn’t immediately announced. (It should be noted that it’s commonplace for teams to hold off on announcing minor league deals/Spring Training invites individually and instead announce them in batches like this.)

Higgins made his big league debut with the Cubs this past season, appearing in nine games and going 1-for-23 at the plate. A 12th-rounder back in the Cubs’ 2015 draft, Higgins has spent his entire career in the organization, batting .273/.359/.370 in just over 2000 minor league plate appearances.

As for St. John, who’ll turn 29 in January, he was a 32nd-round pick by the Tigers back in 2014 and briefly appeared in the Majors with the 2019 Rangers. He yielded four runs in 6 2/3 innings during that brief cup of coffee but has a solid minor league track record, with a 3.44 ERA, a 22.6% strikeout rate and an 8.7% walk rate in 483 1/3 innings (including 79 innings of 4.10 ERA ball with a 28.5% strikeout rate in Triple-A).

KBO’s Lotte Giants Re-Sign Dixon Machado

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The Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization have re-signed infielder Dixon Machado, per a team announcement (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net). It’s a one-year deal with a club option for 2022. Machado will make $650K in the first year of the deal, and he would pick up another $800K if the option were exercised, Kurtz reports. The option comes with a $50K buyout, bringing the total guarantee to $700K.

Machado hit .280/.356/.422 (105 wRC+) with twelve home runs over 551 plate appearances in 2020, his first season of KBO action. He was the Giants’ primary option at shortstop, starting 139 contests over a 144-game slate. That solid performance was evidently enough for the team to keep him in the fold for the time being.

The 28-year-old is more well-known to U.S. fans for his major league stint with the Tigers. Once a decently-regarded prospect in the Detroit system, Machado only managed a .227/.285/.295 line over parts of four MLB seasons.

Which Former MLB Players Are Getting Ready To Play In The KBO?

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The Korea Baseball Organization is set to open its regular season on May 5, without fans in attendance, and is already in the midst of its second preseason training camp. There have been reported talks to bring KBO games to a North American audience, although at this point there’s no deal in place to allow MLB fans to tune in broad-reaching, accessible fashion.

Still, as baseball-starved fans hope for some ability to monitor those games, it seems worth a rundown of which former big leaguers will be suiting up in the KBO for fans around the world to follow — even if it’s in box scores and highlight clips only. Here’s a look at some names you might recognize in the 10-team league (with a hefty tip of the cap to the indispensable MyKBO.net and MyKBOstats.com)…

Doosan Bears (2019 record: 88-55-1)

  • Jose Miguel Fernandez, 1B/DH: The 32-year-old Fernandez was a notable signing out of Cuba by the Dodgers but never got a look with his original club. He latched on with the 2018 Angels and appeared in 36 games before heading to the KBO, where he posted a massive .344/.409/.483 slash even in a year that saw a leaguewide decrease in offense.
  • Raul Alcantara, RHP: Alcantara, 27, pitched with the Athletics in 2016-17. He notched a 4.01 ERA in 172 2/3 with the KT Wiz in Korea last season before inking a deal with the Bears this past winter.
  • Chris Flexen, RHP: Flexen struggled with the Mets from 2017-19 before signing up for his first overseas stint this past season. He had some success with the Mets’ Triple-A club and averaged a strikeout per inning at that level.

SK Wyverns (88-55-1)

  • Nick Kingham, RHP: The longtime Pirates top prospect never put it together in 131 2/3 big league innings, but he’s still just 28 years old. He’ll be an interesting name to monitor with regard to a future return.
  • Ricardo Pinto, RHP: The 26-year-old spent time with the Phillies, Rays and Giants organizations but struggled in limited MLB time.
  • Jamie Romak, 1B: The 33-year-old Romak only has 39 MLB plate appearances on his track record, but he’s become a consistent offensive force in the KBO, hitting .283/.376/.544 in three seasons with the Wyverns.

Kiwoom Heroes (86-57-1)

  • ByungHo Park, 1B: Park’s big free-agent deal with the Minnesota Twins didn’t pan out, but he’s posted an OPS north of 1.000 since returning to the Heroes two seasons ago.
  • Taylor Motter, INF/OF: The versatile 30-year-old didn’t hit much in 141 MLB games between the Rays, Mariners and Twins. He’ll hope for an overseas breakout in 2020.
  • Jake Brigham, RHP: Brigham, 32, only got a brief look with the 2015 Braves, but he’s entering his fourth KBO season — his second with the Heroes. In a total of 501 1/3 KBO innings, he’s posted a 3.72 ERA with 7.2 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9.
  • Eric Jokisch, LHP: An encouraging 2014 stint with the Cubs (three runs in 14 1/3 innings) never led to another MLB look for Jokisch, who bounced around the Triple-A circuit before turning in an impressive 3.13 ERA and 141-to-39 K/BB ratio in 181 1/3 frames in last year’s KBO debut.

LG Twins (79-64-1)

  • Hyun-Soo Kim, OF: The former Oriole and Phillie returned to the KBO after a two-year MLB stint in 2016-17, signing a four-year, $10.7MM deal with LG. The “Hitting Machine,” as he was nicknamed in the KBO, posted an OPS north of 1.000 in his return and has largely picked up where he left off.
  • Casey Kelly, RHP: The one-time star Red Sox prospect is now 30 years old and fresh off a 2.55 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 through 180 1/3 innings in his first KBO season.
  • Tyler Wilson, RHP: Wilson, also 30, floundered through 145 innings with the Orioles before finding himself with the LG Twins, for whom he’s tossed 355 innings with a 2.99 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9.
  • Roberto Ramos, 1B: One of the few players on this list who never appeared in the Majors, the 25-year-old Ramos is a former Rockies prospect who signed on for his first season of Asian ball after hitting .309/.400/.580 in Triple-A last year.

NC Dinos (73-69-2)

  • Aaron Altherr, OF: One of the more recognizable names on the list, Altherr at times looked like a budding star with the Phillies. He fizzled out after some notable injuries, though, and is will make his KBO debut at 29 this year.
  • Mike Wright, RHP: Another former O’s hurler, Wright appeared in parts of five seasons with Baltimore. He had his share of success in Triple-A (3.76 ERA) but regularly struggled in the big leagues (6.00 ERA in 258 frames). He’s making his KBO debut this season as well.
  • Drew Rucinski, RHP: The 31-year-old saw time with the Angels, Twins and most recently the Marlins (2018). He returns to the Dinos after pitching 177 2/3 frames of 3.05 ERA ball in 2019 (6.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9).

KT Wiz (71-71-2)

  • Odrisamer Despaigne, RHP: The 2020 season will be the first in the KBO for the 33-year-old Despaigne — a six-year MLB veteran who has tallied 363 innings in the big leagues.
  • Jae-Gyun Hwang, 3B: The (San Francisco) Giants signed Hwang back in 2017 but never gave him a long look despite a memorable home run in his MLB debut. He’s a productive regular in the KBO once again, having signed a four-year, $7.9MM deal with the Wiz prior to the 2018 season.
  • Mel Rojas Jr., OF: The 29-year-old Rojas never got a chance with the Pirates or Braves, and he’s now one of the KBO’s top hitters. In three seasons with the Wiz, Rojas has mashed at a .310/.377/.561 clip. He’s hit 30 homers in consecutive seasons.
  • William Cuevas, RHP: Cuevas, 29, got a cup of coffee with both the Red Sox and Tigers before jumping to the KBO and posting a 3.62 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 184 innings last year.

Kia Tigers (62-80-2)

  • Preston Tucker, OF: The former Astros prospect had a hot start with the ’18 Braves but faded quickly. He’s set for a second season with the Tigers after hitting .311/.381/.479 in last year’s debut effort.
  • Aaron Brooks, RHP: Brooks, 30 next week, pitched for the A’s, Royals and O’s between 2014-19 but struggled to a 6.49 ERA in 179 2/3 innings. He’s set for his KBO debut.
  • Drew Gagnon, RHP: A third-round pick of the Brewers in 2011, Gagnon saw MLB action with the Mets in 2018-19 but performed poorly. He had a bit 2019 season in Triple-A (2.33 ERA in 88 2/3 innings), which helped attract interest overseas.

Samsung Lions (60-83-1)

  • Seunghwan Oh, RHP: Oh enjoyed a quality four-year run with the Cardinals, Blue Jays and Rockies before undergoing elbow surgery last summer and heading back to the Lions, for whom he starred for nine seasons as one of the best relievers in league history (a tenure that earned him his incredible “Final Boss” nickname).
  • Tyler Saladino, INF: The former White Sox utilityman saw MLB time with the Brewers in 2018-19 and now heads to South Korea for the first time at 30 years of age.
  • David Buchanan, RHP: Buchanan hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since a 2014-15 run with the Phillies. He’s spent the past three seasons with Japan’s Yakult Swallows, working to a 4.07 ERA in 433 innings — mostly working as a starter.
  • Ben Lively, RHP: A prospect of some note for a bit with the Phillies, Lively had a solid MLB debut in ’17 but never further established himself. He gave the Lions 57 innings of 3.95 ERA ball after signing midseason in 2019.

Hanwha Eagles (58-86)

  • Jared Hoying, OF: Hoying barely got a look with the Rangers in 2016-17, but he’s compiled a .296/.355/.519 slash in two seasons with the Eagles so far.
  • Warwick Saupold, RHP: The Aussie hurler managed a 4.98 ERA in three seasons with the Tigers before taking his 80-grade name to the KBO. In last year’s 192-inning debut, he logged a 3.51 ERA.
  • Chad Bell, LHP: Bell and Saupold were teammates with the Tigers. Both debuted in the KBO last year, and Bell’s 3.50 ERA is a near-identical match to his longtime teammate.

Lotte Giants (48-93-3)

  • Dan Straily, RHP: The most accomplished pitcher on this list, Straily racked up 495 1/3 innings of 4.03 ERA ball with the Reds and Marlins from 2016-18 before his production fell off a cliff in 2019. He’ll hope to rebound on a one-year, $1MM deal with the Giants.
  • Dae-ho Lee, 1B: The 37-year-old slugger came to the Majors for one season with the 2016 Mariners before returning to Korea on a four-year, $12.9MM contract that represented the largest deal in KBO history at the time. Lee’s bat faded in 2019, but he mashed 37 homers with a .987 OPS in 2018.
  • Adrian Sampson, RHP: The 31-year-old comes to the Giants for his own KBO debut with a solid Triple-A track record but an ugly 5.71 ERA in 153 MLB innings.
  • Dixon Machado, INF: Yet another former Tiger, Machado spent 2019 with the Cubs’ Triple-A club, where he hit .261/.371/.480 before agreeing to a deal with Lotte this winter.
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