Former major league pitcher Cody Ponce smiles while signing his new contract with Hanwha Eagles, in this photo provided by Hanwha Eagles, Dec. 13. Yonhap
The Hanwha Eagles and the Lotte Giants completed their foreign player signings for the 2025 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season on Friday, with the Eagles acquiring two new players and the Giants bringing back a starter and newly signing another.
The Eagles signed former major league pitcher Cody Ponce to a one-year deal worth $1 million, including a $200,000 signing bonus, and also inked former big league outfielder Estevan Florial to a one-year contract for up to $850,000 — $700,000 in guaranteed salary, $50,000 in signing bonus and $100,000 in incentives.
Ponce, 30, pitched in 20 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 and 2021, including five starts. He went 1-7 with a 5.86 ERA across 55 1/3 innings.
He spent the next three seasons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, pitching for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters from 2022 to 2023, and then the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2024. Ponce compiled a 10-16 record with a 4.54 ERA in 202 innings in those three seasons.
The Eagles said Ponce's experience in Asia should allow him to get acclimated quickly to South Korea, while also noting the right-hander's ability to pitch deep into games.
Ponce will join the returning starter Ryan Weiss at the top of the Eagles' rotation.
Florial will be the Eagles' new foreign hitter, replacing Yonathan Perlaza.
The 27-year-old native of the Dominican Republic has played for the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians in the majors. He has a .192/.291/.329 line with four homers and 22 RBIs in 84 big league games — 36 of which came with the Guardians this year.
He has split recent years in the majors and the minors. In his Triple-A career, Florial batted .257/.352/.472 with 65 home runs, 196 RBIs and 99 steals in 344 games.
The Eagles said they liked Florial's defense in the outfield and his speed on the basepaths, as attested by his high steal total in Triple-A.
KBO teams are each permitted three foreign players, with a maximum two pitchers.
On Friday, the Giants also put down the final pieces of their foreign player puzzle.
Charlie Barnes smiles while signing his new contract with Lotte Giants, in this photo provided by Lotte Giants, Dec. 13. Yonhap
They decided to bring back left-hander Charlie Barnes for his fourth KBO season at $1.5 million — $1.35 million in salary and $150,000 in incentives.
Barnes went 9-6 with a 3.35 ERA in 25 starts in 2024, while recording 171 strikeouts in 150 2/3 innings. For the 2022-2024 period, Barnes leads all qualified KBO starters with a 3.42 ERA and 478 strikeouts.
Barnes, 29, will be joined in the rotation by new left-hander Tucker Davidson, who will replace right-hander Aaron Wilkerson.
Davidson, 28, signed for $950,000, with $850,000 in salary and $100,000 in incentives. He has 56 major league games, including 17 starts, under his belt for four clubs, most recently the Baltimore Orioles in 2024. He has a 4-10 record with a 5.76 ERA.
Davidson made 32 appearances in Triple-A this year. In four Triple-A seasons, he went 11-21 with a 3.78 ERA over 238 innings, while recording 240 strikeouts against 84 walks.
The Giants said Davidson has a high release point and has good deception in his delivery. He has a deep arsenal featuring four-seam fastball, sweeper, sinker, curveball, slider and splitter.
The Giants had earlier re-signed outfielder Victor Reyes for his second season. (Yonhap)
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