Wilmer Font (33, San Diego Padres), who played an active role as a top-class ace in the KBO League, returned to the United States as he had hoped. Not shying away from his minor league contract, he set his sights on settling back in the United States.
On the 6th (Korean time), ‘MLB Trade Rumors’, which deals with the news of the major league transfer market in the US, said, ‘San Diego has agreed to a minor league contract with right-handed free agent Font. Font joins MLB spring training and will be competing for a spot on the roster.”
Font decided to advance to the US after leading the SSG Landers to a wire-to-wire victory last year. After the season, he told SSG that he would “challenge in an overseas league,” and the club respected Font’s wishes and did not pursue a renewal of his contract.
It seems that the weight on his return to the United States was enough to risk his minor league contract. Considering Font’s age, playing another year in the KBO was risky. In 28 games last year, he recorded 13 wins and 6 losses, 184 innings, 170 strikeouts, and an average ERA of 2.69, boosting his confidence. He seems to have judged that there was no better opportunity than this.
There will be a chance to try again in the major leagues in spring camp, but it is not easy to seize the opportunity. A recent example of a font-like challenge is Dan Strayley (35, Lotte Giants). After the 2021 season, Strayley shook off Lotte’s courtship to renew his contract and signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Like Font, it was a guaranteed contract to invite to the big league spring camp.
It was not possible to write a growth drama only with the will to re-challenge in the big leagues. Strayley bowed his head last year with 3 wins and 3 losses in 15 Triple A games (12 starts), 62⅓ innings, 53 strikeouts, and a 6.35 ERA. He had no choice but to break his heart in the cold reality. In August of last year, he accepted Lotte’s offer to replace foreign players and returned to Korea with a total of 400,000 dollars.
Strayley was a pitcher who received relatively more attention from the American media than Font. He was a pitcher who threw 803⅓ innings in the big leagues for 8 years from 2012 to 2019. In Lotte, he won 25 wins (16 losses) in 62 games in 2020 and 2021, 360⅓ innings, 369 strikeouts, and an average ERA of 3.22. did. The American media watched Strayley as an example of success in the big leagues using his KBO league experience as a stepping stone, but the results were not 토토사이트. It is also true that his chances of success are reduced because the minor league contract itself means that there is no place for this player on the 40-man roster right away.
MLB Trade Rumors predicted that Font would aim for one of the lower selections in San Diego based on his selection experience in Korea. Font has been mostly out of the bullpen in the big leagues through 2020. Of his 96 career games, only 22 were starts. He must prove his competitiveness as a starter during camp, and somehow break into the 40-man roster.