"It's one of the more lucrative one-year deals we've seen for a foreign player re-upping in the KBO, though it's not hard to see why. The 32-year-old Naile (33 in February) has spent the past two seasons pitching for Kia in the KBO, working to a combined 2.38 ERA across 53 starts - a total of 313 2/3 innings. He's fanned 22.2% of his opponents and only yielded a walk to 5.8% of the batters he's faced - all with a ground-ball rate around 56%."
"A former 20th-round pick by the Athletics, Naile appeared in parts of two major league seasons - both with the Cardinals. From 2022-23, he pitched a tiny sample of 24 1/3 MLB innings, during which he was tagged for 20 runs (7.40 ERA) on 35 hits and 11 walks with 12 punchouts. Though Naile never got much of a look in the majors, he's a veteran of six Triple-A seasons."
James Naile signed a one-year deal with the Kia Tigers for $1.8MM guaranteed plus $200K in incentives. He posted a 2.38 ERA across 53 starts and 313 2/3 innings over the past two KBO seasons. Naile struck out 22.2% of batters, walked 5.8%, had about a 56% ground-ball rate and surrendered 17 home runs (0.49 HR/9). He is the only qualified KBO starter with a sub-3.00 ERA over those two seasons and briefly appeared in MLB with a 7.40 ERA across 24 1/3 innings. He logged six Triple-A seasons with a 4.15 ERA across 357 2/3 innings, has $3.95MM in guaranteed overseas earnings, and could approach $4.5MM with incentives.
Read at MLB Trade Rumors
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