Hart, a client of NPG Sports, enjoyed a breakout showing in the Korea Baseball Organization in 2024 and has drawn big league interest throughout the winter. He’s the second starter the Friars have added in as many days, as San Diego also came to terms on a four-year, $55MM deal with Nick Pivetta last night.

Hart, who turned 32 in November, was torched for 19 runs in 11 innings with the 2020 Red Sox, his lone MLB experience to date. He has a fairly nondescript 4.36 ERA in 334 2/3 Triple-A frames as well, but a move overseas and some changes to his pitch repertoire unlocked new reason for optimism.

Brandishing a new sweeper, a heavier reliance on his changeup and using his four-seamer more at the top of the zone in South Korea, Hart broke out with a 2.69 earned run average over 26 starts for the KBO’s NC Dinos. He racked up 157 innings, fanned 28.8% of his opponents and issued walks at a 6% clip. That performance earned him the Choi Dong-won Award — the KBO equivalent of MLB’s Cy Young Award.

Hart now joins fellow newcomer Pivetta and holdovers Dylan Cease, Michael King and Yu Darvish in San Diego’s rotation mix. He could have to compete with Matt Waldron, Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez for that fifth spot behind the four established veterans, but Hart at the very least seems like the front-runner to land that job.

It’s always possible that a trade changes the calculus, but the minimal 2025 commitments to Hart ($1.5MM), Pivetta ($4MM), Jason Heyward ($1MM) and Connor Joe ($1MM) over the past week have addressed several needs at bargain prices — at least for this year. (Pivetta will earn $19MM in 2026, $14MM in 2027 and $18MM in 2028.) Both Cease and King have popped up on the rumor mill this winter — Cease in particular — but as of this morning the Padres are reportedly planning to hold onto both. That can be revisited at the deadline if the season doesn’t play out as hoped. For the time being, the recent slate of cost-effective pickups seems to have filled various needs within the (very) tight confines of the payroll limitations president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has been navigating throughout the winter.

The additions of Hart, Pivetta, Heyward and Joe over the past week have pushed San Diego’s payroll to a projected $207MM, per RosterResource. That’s an increase of nearly $40MM over last season’s end-of-year mark. The Friars have a projected $259MM worth of CBT obligations as well, placing them a hefty $18MM over the $241MM luxury threshold. However, since they reset their penalty level when they ducked under the tax line in 2024, they’ll be faced with only the minimum penalty: a 20% tax on their current overages. That’s about $3.6MM in penalties right now, and it’s possible trades of players other than Cease/King could yet reduce the bill. The Padres have been open to offers on reliever Robert Suarez, and they’d surely be open to offers on left-hander Wandy Peralta or infielder Jake Cronenworth, too, if it meant shedding a notable chunk of either player’s contract.

MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes reports today that Hart has some level of interest from six big league clubs, one of whom has been trying to free up some payroll space before adding Hart or another free agent. At the very least, that’s indicative of a team (or teams) being willing to put forth a big league offer to sign the lefty. Though there hasn’t been much reporting on Hart’s ongoing free agency this winter, he was linked to the Orioles, Astros, Twins, Brewers and Yankees in late December. More than half the league is reported to have at least checked in, though that obviously doesn’t indicate serious interest from all those parties.

Hart’s breakout overseas is reminiscent of recent KBO success stories like Erick Fedde, Chris Flexen and Merrill Kelly, among others. That said, he’ll pitch all of next season at 32. That’s a notable difference from recent KBO-to-MLB arms. Fedde returned ahead of his age-31 season and had the benefit of being a former first-round pick and top prospect. Kelly was 30 when he signed a modest two-year deal with Arizona on the back of a terrific four-year run in South Korea. Flexen’s lone season in the KBO was his age-25 campaign. He returned on a two-year deal with the Mariners at just 26 years old. Of the bunch, Fedde’s $15MM guarantee over two years is the largest contract.

Hart is older than the rest of that group and lacks the prospect pedigree Fedde had. Like many of those pitchers, however, he’s benefited from demonstrable changes to his pitching repertoire since heading to the KBO. He added a new sweeper this season, began throwing his four-seamer up in the zone/above the zone to get some chases, and has used his changeup more heavily. His heater isn’t the type of power offering that modern teams covet, sitting low-90s and peaking around 94 mph, but it’s generally easier for a lefty to get by with lesser velocity than a righty.

Whether that’s enough to sell a major league front office on his viability as a big league rotation cog remains to be seen. Fedde, the most successful of the group in the KBO, won the Choi Dong-won and was named KBO MVP after posting a flat 2.00 ERA with better strikeout and walk rates (29.5% and 4.9%, respectively) than Hart turned in this past season.

If not a return to Major League Baseball, Hart will still have ample opportunity to earn money in Asia. He’s drawn interest from both KBO clubs and teams in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per Dierkes.

Hart posted a 2.69 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, and six percent walk rate over 157 innings and 26 starts with the Dinos, winning the Dong-won Choi Award (the KBO League’s answer to the Cy Young Award).  Hart’s best pitch is his slider, but according to Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen, Hart used that slider less as a primary offering and more as a chase pitch to put batters away.  Longenhagen isn’t sure how Hart’s arsenal of this plus slider but only a 90mph fastball and an okay changeup will translate back in the big leagues, and thus Hart is projected as a fifth or sixth starter even if Fangraphs ranked him 48th on their list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents.

A somewhat limited repertoire might be less of an issue if Hart is working out of the bullpen, of course, and Sammon and Woo note that some interested MLB teams have considered Hart as a multi-inning reliever.  Whether working as a starter, long reliever, or perhaps both in a swingman role, there’s plenty of upside if the 32-year-old Hart can carry over even some of his KBO success back to the big leagues.

It isn’t known if Hart is specifically looking for a starting opportunity in the majors or if he’s willing to take on any role, though the five teams cited as suitors would seem to slot him as a reliever or swingman, in lieu of future injuries or trades to the incumbent rotation.  The Twins and Yankees are particularly thin on left-handed bullpen options, which could make Hart particularly appealing to those clubs.

Hart’s previous Major League experience consists of just four appearances and 11 innings with the Red Sox in 2020, when he was hit hard for a 15.55 ERA over his few cups of coffee in the Show.  A 19th-round pick for Boston in the 2016 draft, Hart pitched pretty well in his first taste of Triple-A ball in 2019, but has since struggled at the top minor league level, with an overall 4.36 ERA to show for 334 2/3 career Triple-A frames.  Hart spent his entire career with the Red Sox before pitching with the Mariners’ and Phillies’ Triple-A affiliates in 2023, and then jumping to the Dinos.

Hart, a 6’5″ hurler from the University of Indiana, has four major league games to his name. Those came with the Red Sox in 2020. He struggled in that limited look, allowing 21 runs in 11 innings. While he hasn’t gotten back to the big leagues since, he signed successive minor league contracts with the Phillies and Mariners this past season.

The former 19th-round pick only pitched once for the Phils’ top farm team. He was a regular member of the rotation for Seattle’s Triple-A team after signing in June, however. Over 18 starts in the Pacific Coast League, Hart posted a 4.58 ERA through 88 1/3 innings. He struck out a reasonable 22.1% of opponents against a 9.1% walk rate.

This will be Hart’s first overseas stint. He joins former Marlins left-hander Daniel Castano as the club’s two foreign-born pitchers to open the season. They replace Erick Fedde (who signed a $15MM deal with the White Sox) and Tanner Tully. Yoo notes that the team is not retaining outfielder Jason Martin, so they’ll look for an additional hitter to meet their allotted three non-Korean players.

Hart, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Phillies this winter and began his season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley but was released after a one-inning appearance in which he didn’t allow a run. He’s been on the open market for about six weeks but has now landed a new gig.

Prior to this year, Hart spent his entire career in the Red Sox organization. That club selected him in the 19th round of the 2016 draft and utilized him primarily as a starter in the lower levels of their minor league system. In 2019, he tossed 156 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 3.52 ERA and earned himself a spot on the 40-man roster. He made it to the majors in 2020 and made four appearances, including three starts, but posted a 15.55 ERA in those.

He was outrighted off the roster after that year and continued pitching on the farm for the Sox for the next two years, both as a starter and a reliever. He tossed 106 2/3 Triple-A innings in 2021 with a 4.91 ERA, then posted a 5.25 ERA in 2022 over 82 1/3 innings between Triple-A and Double-A.

It’s unclear if the Mariners are interested in Hart as a starter or reliever. They’ve had some injuries to their rotation, with Robbie Ray and Easton McGee out for the year due to Tommy John surgery while Marco Gonzales just landed on the IL due to a forearm strain. That has forced rookies Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo up to the big leagues and thinned the depth a bit. There’s also a couple of relievers on the IL but they’re both right-handed, as lefties Gabe Speier and Tayler Saucedo currently make up the southpaw contingent in the big leagues. They also have non-roster lefties like Eric Stout and Rob Kaminsky in Triple-A.

Hart could perhaps join that group or give the club some extra rotation depth. If he finds his way back onto the 40-man roster, he still has a couple of option seasons and less than a year of service time, meaning he could potentially serve as a depth piece for quite some time if he were to hang onto that roster spot.

Hart, 30, will join just his second organization, as he was drafted by the Red Sox and has spent his entire career with them up until this point. Working primarily as a starter in the minors, he had a solid showing in 2019, splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A. He made 24 starts and three relief appearances that year between those two levels, tossing 156 innings with a 3.52 ERA, 22% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate.

That season was strong enough that the Sox added him to their 40-man roster to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. In 2020, Hart made his major league debut but registered a 15.55 ERA in 11 innings. He was outrighted off the club’s roster in November of that year and has continued pitching in the minors, but not quite reaching that form he showed in 2019. In 2021, he had a 4.22 ERA in 106 2/3 Triple-A innings. Last year, he posted a 5.25 ERA in 82 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A.

Hart reached free agency for the first time after the 2022 campaign wrapped and has used it to find a new opportunity. The Phillies will see if a change of scenery can help Hart get back on track after a few disappointing years. The club’s rotation will consist of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez and Taijuan Walker, with the final spot open for a battle between guys like Bailey Falter, Christopher Sánchez, Andrew Painter and Mick Abel. In the bullpen, the Phils will have a few lefty options in José Alvarado, Gregory Soto, Matt Strahm and Andrew Vasquez. It’s unclear if the Phils view Hart as a starter or reliever exclusively, but he could perhaps provide some depth in either area. If he makes it onto the club’s roster at any point, he still has a couple of option seasons and less than one year of service time.

Those three moves helped clear space for the team to select seven players to the MLB roster: catcher/infielder Connor Wong, right-hander Eduard Bazardo, third baseman Hudson Potts, righty Bryan Mata, righty Connor Seabold, outfielder Jeisson Rosario and lefty Jay Groome. All seven are now shielded from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

It’s something of an indictment on Boston’s 2020 pitching staff that Weber, who ranked third on the team in innings pitched, was immediately cut loose. Both Hart and Hall started games for the Sox in 2020 as well. The team’s leader in innings pitched, Martin Perez, had his option bought out at season’s end.

Ownership might not have wanted to publicly acknowledge that the team punted the 2020 season, but the nature of the moves involving the team’s 2020 pitching staff speak for themselves. This club was always a long shot to contend in a deep AL East, although certainly the injury to Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez’s unsettling bout with myocarditis after a Covid-19 battle didn’t help their cause. A lack of depth was always plain to see, however, and this club long looked ill-prepared to deal with inevitable injury troubles that virtually all teams encounter.

Mata, 21, has climbed as high as Double-A and has long been considered one of the organization’s better young arms. Groome probably needs some development time after injuries have slowed the former first-rounder’s career.

Several of today’s names have been added to the system via high-profile trades across the past 12 months. The 24-year-old Wong has also played in Double-A, and as one of the pieces received in the Mookie Betts/David Price blockbuster, is someone the team has high hopes for in the future. Potts is a 2016 first-rounder of the Padres who came over in the Mitch Moreland swap and has also reached the Double-A level. Rosario also landed in Boston via that swap, though he’s further from the Majors having not yet played beyond Class-A Advanced. Seabold could get a look in the rotation as soon as 2021 after coming over from the Phillies in the Brandon Workman/Heath Hembree trade.

SEPT. 13: The Red Sox are planning to promote pitching prospect Tanner Houck to make his MLB debut on Tuesday against the Marlins, per various reporters (including Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic). Ian Browne of MLB.com first reported that a Houck call-up was likely. He will need to be added to the 40-man roster before the promotion can become official.

Boston’s 2017 first-round pick (24th overall) out of the University of Missouri, Houck needed to be added to the 40-man this winter regardless in order to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. There’s little to lose for the out-of-contention Red Sox in getting an abbreviated look at Houck in the season’s final couple weeks.

The 24-year-old has seen his stock dip somewhat since draft day, although he’s still regarded as one of the club’s best short-term pitching prospects. Houck places among Boston’s top fifteen farmhands in the estimation of Keith Law of the Athletic (10th), MLB Pipeline (10th), Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (11th) and Baseball America (13th). There’s some division among prospect rankers whether Houck will be able to effectively work through opposing lineups multiple times (particularly those heavy on left-handed batters), although the Red Sox will surely give Houck a shot as a starter initially.

Boston’s rotation, without Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez all year, has been atrocious. Red Sox starters have a league-worst 6.18 FIP, and only the Tigers’ rotation has mustered a worse ERA (6.64) than Boston’s 6.25. Nathan Eovaldi has been passable, but there haven’t been many bright spots behind him. That offers Houck plenty of opportunity to stick in the Sox rotation in 2021 and beyond should he prove capable.

AL West:

• The Athletics made just one addition to the 40-man roster, righty Daulton Jefferies, which resulted in the DFA of righty Jharel Cotton (more on that move here).
• The Rangers will add at least four players to their 40-man, per MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (via Twitter). Infielder Sherten Apostel, outfielder Leody Taveras, and hurlers Demarcus Evans and Tyler Phillips are all reportedly set to get a slot. Taveras is the most exciting name of this bunch; by the reckoning of some observers, he’s one of the club’s best prospects. Apostel came over in the Keone Kela trade. The two pitchers are upper-minors arms who could contribute in 2020.
• There’s 40-man movement elsewhere in Texas as well. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets that the Astros have tacked on four players: Taylor Jones, Cristian Javier, Enoli Paredes, and Nivaldo Rodriguez. The last of those is the one that came from the farthest reaches of the prospect map (half a season of High-A ball); clearly, the ’Stros see him as an up-and-comer and were worried other teams would as well. Jones had a strong season at Triple-A and could fight for a bench spot. Javier and Paredes could be in the MLB bullpen mix after running up the farm ladder with high strikeout rates in 2019.
• The Angels have selected second baseman/outfielder Jahmai Jones and lefty Hector Yan, according to the club. Both players (Jones – No. 6; Yan – No. 17) rank among the Angels’ top 20 prospects at MLB.com. The 22-year-old Jones is a 2015 second-rounder who spent the past two seasons at the Double-A level, where he hit .234/.308/.324 in 544 plate appearances in 2019. Yan, a 20-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, rose to Single-A ball this past season and notched a 3.39 ERA/3.17 FIP with a whopping 12.22 K/9 against 4.29 BB/9 over 109 innings.

AL Central:

• The Twins have selected the contracts of righties Jhoan Duran and Dakota Chalmers, outfielders Gilberto Celestino and Luke Raley, and infielder/outfielder Travis Blankenhorn, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com tweets. Three of those players – Duran (No. 9), Celestino (No. 20) and Blankenhorn (No. 23) – rank among the Twins’ top 25 prospects at MLB.com.
• Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports that the Tigers have selected the contracts of infielder Isaac Paredes; outfielders Daz Cameron and Derek Hill; and right-handers Beau Burrows, Kyle Funkhouser and Anthony Castro. Each of Paredes, Cameron, Burrows, Funkhouser and Castro are ranked inside the organization’s Top 20 prospects at MLB.com, while Hill checks in at 28th. Cameron, Hill, Burrows and Funkhouser were all top 50 picks in the MLB Draft at one point.
• Kansas City’s slate of additions was accompanied by four DFAs, as detailed here. The Royals added lefty Foster Griffin, right-hander Carlos Hernandez, shortstop Jeison Guzman and outfielder Nick Heath to the 40-man roster this afternoon.
• Seven players were added to the White Sox’ 40-man roster today, per a club announcement: catcher Yermin Mercedes, outfielder Blake Rutherford, left-hander Bernardo Flores Jr. and right-handers Zack Burdi, Dane Dunning, Matt Foster and Jimmy Lambert. Burdi and Dunning, in particular, are well-regarded pitching prospects on the mend from Tommy John surgery. Rutherford, a former first-round pick, was a key trade acquisition who was protected despite a lackluster season in Double-A and in the Arizona Fall League.

AL East:

• Infielder Santiago Espinal and righty Thomas Hatch were the Blue Jays’ pair of roster additions on Wednesday. Toronto jettisoned Tim Mayza and Justin Shafer from the 40-man roster in a pair of corresponding moves, as explored at greater length here.
• The Orioles announced that they’ve selected the contracts of left-hander Keegan Akin, right-hander Dean Kremer, infielder/outfielder Ryan Mountcastle and outfielder Ryan McKenna. Mountcastle, a former first-rounder, has long been considered among the organization’s most promising minor leaguers. Akin posted a down year in Triple-A in 2019 but has generally been successful and is viewed as a near-MLB ready arm.
• The Red Sox have added infielders C.J. Chatham and Bobby Dalbec, outfielder Marcus Wilson, and lefties Kyle Hart and Yoan Aybar to their 40-man, the team announced.The most hyped farmhand there is Dalbec, whom MLB.com ranks as the Red Sox’s second-best prospect. The 24-year-old reached the Triple-A level for the first time in 2019 after obliterating Double-A pitching, and he posted a .257/.301/.478 line with seven home runs and 29 strikeouts against just five walks over 123 trips to the plate.