SEOUL, The Kia Tigers will have two new foreign pitchers to begin the 2024 season, after one pitcher they had hoped to re-sign decided to return to the United States.
Left-hander Thomas Pannone has signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs, New York Post columnist Jon Heyman reported Monday (U.S. local time). Pannone has been invited to spring training and will make US$800,000 if he makes the big league roster.
In this file photo from Sept. 22, 2023, Kia Tigers starter Thomas Pannone pitches against the KT Wiz during a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju.
Pannone has spent parts of the past two seasons with the Tigers in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). He first arrived here in July 2022 to replace Ronnie Williams in the rotation, and finished with a 3-4 record and a 2.72 ERA in 14 games.
He was not brought back to begin the 2023 season but rejoined the Tigers in July, as a midseason replacement for Shaun Anderson. In his second tour of duty, Pannone went 6-3 in his 16 appearances with a 4.26 ERA. He made $350,000 in 2023.
The Tigers ended the season with Pannone and Mario Sanchez as their two foreign pitchers. They decided last month not to extend a new deal to Sanchez, who went 4-4 with a 5.94 ERA in 12 games. They had kept the doors open on Pannone, who closed them by inking the pact with the Cubs.
Source: Yonhap News Agency