NPB/KBO Notes: Dice-K, Mengden, Almonte, Yoon
4:06pm CDT
Daisuke Matsuzaka is still going. The 40-year-old righty signed a one-year deal with the Seibu Lions in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball earlier this week, according to the Japan Times, rejoining the club for which he starred from 1999-2006. Matsuzaka was with the Lions in 2020 as well, although he spent the year rehabbing from back surgery that prevented him from pitching. The former Red Sox right-hander returned to NPB in 2015 and has since pitched with the SoftBank Hawks and Chunichi Dragons. He’s thrown just 5 1/3 innings since the conclusion of the 2018 season due to injuries, but he’ll hope for a healthier go of it as his career comes full circle with the Lions in 2021.
Fernandez, who’ll be returning for a third season with the Bears, never got much of a look in the Majors despite a considerable track record in the Cuban National Series, but he’s broken out as a star-level hitter in the KBO. The 32-year-old hasn’t missed a game since originally signing with the Bears and has delivered a combined .342/.407/.490 batting line with 36 homers, 63 doubles and more walks (119) than strikeouts (just 96) through 1313 plate appearances. Fernandez’s deal comes with $800K worth of guarantees and an additional $300K available via incentives.
Miranda, 32 in January, will now somewhat remarkably have pitched in virtually every top professional league in the world. The Cuban-born southpaw got his start in the Cuban National Series back in 2007 and has since pitched in the Majors (with the Orioles and Mariners), Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (SoftBank Hawks) and most recently in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CTBC Brothers).
MLB Trade Rumors
First baseman
Roberto Ramos is returning to the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization for a second season, reports Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. After earning $500K in 2020, he’ll earn $800K of guarantees in 2021, with another $200K worth of incentives. The team has announced the deal.
Those unfamiliar with Ramos may want to take note of his name, as it’s quite possible it could come up in future offseasons. Despite a very productive age-24 season with the Rockies’ Triple-A club in 2019 (.309/.400/.580, 30 homers, 27 doubles), Colorado let Ramos go to pursue his initial KBO opportunity last winter. Ramos had a rookie season for the ages in the KBO, hitting .278/.362/.592 with a franchise-record 38 home runs, 17 doubles and two triples.
First baseman
Roberto Ramos is returning to the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization for a second season, reports Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. After earning $500K in 2020, he’ll earn $800K of guarantees in 2021, with another $200K worth of incentives. The team has announced the deal.
Those unfamiliar with Ramos may want to take note of his name, as it’s quite possible it could come up in future offseasons. Despite a very productive age-24 season with the Rockies’ Triple-A club in 2019 (.309/.400/.580, 30 homers, 27 doubles), Colorado let Ramos go to pursue his initial KBO opportunity last winter. Ramos had a rookie season for the ages in the KBO, hitting .278/.362/.592 with a franchise-record 38 home runs, 17 doubles and two triples.