Right-hander Cody Ponce left South Korea this past weekend to travel back to the United States, per a report from Bae Young-Uen of the Korea JoongAng Daily. Ponce and his wife welcomed a daughter in early November and had been planning to remain in South Korea through the end of the year as a result, but interest in the right-hander has picked up enough that he’s traveling back to North America earlier than anticipated (presumably for some in-person meetings).
Interest in the 6’6″ righty indeed appears strong. Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of The Athletic reported this morning that Ponce could more than double the $15MM guarantee secured by Erick Fedde in his return to Major League Baseball from the Korea Baseball Organization two offseasons ago. Clubs are generally expecting Ponce to command a three-year contract, per The Athletic report. Fedde’s $15MM guarantee is the largest a North American pitcher has received upon returning from the KBO, so doubling that (or more) would establish a new precedent.
Topping $30MM would be fairly sizable risk on a 31-year-old (32 in April) who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2021 and has never had much big league success. Ponce, however, was recently named the KBO MVP after a historically dominant season. Pitching to a 1.89 ERA in 180 2/3 innings with the Hanwha Eagles, Ponce set the single-season strikeout record (252) and the single-game strikeout record (18) in South Korea’s top league. He fanned a comical 36.2% of his opponents with a mammoth 16.5% swinging-strike rate and just a 5.9% walk rate.
Back in 2020-21, Ponce 55 1/3 innings for the Pirates, who’d acquired him from the division-rival Brewers. The former second-round pick was roughed up for a 5.86 ERA in 55 1/3 innings and struck out only 19.6% of his opponents.
Things have changed for Ponce since that first MLB run. He’s spent three years pitching in Japan and a fourth (2025) in Korea. The 255-pound righty has added substantial velocity, jumping from a 93.2 mph average fastball with the Pirates to what The Athletic’s Eno Sarris suggests was a 95 mph average with the Eagles.
Evaluators who spoke to MLBTR last month ahead of our Top 50 Free Agent List (where Ponce ranked 39th) offered similar reviews, noting that he sat 94-96 mph and topped out at 98 mph. Ponce has also added a splitter and kick changeup that have missed bats. A scout who spoke to MLBTR brought Ponce up unprompted when discussing other free agents from Japan’s NPB and the KBO, opining that he might top $20MM. That was before free agency opened in earnest.
If there was any doubt about Ponce’s looming return to MLB, the Eagles’ actions since season’s end likely erase that. The JoongAng Daily report indicates that Hanwha has already effectively replaced Ponce by signing 26-year-old righty Wilkel Hernandez, who spent the past several seasons pitching with the Tigers’ Triple-A club. If the Eagles felt there was any chance of retaining their ace and reigning MVP, they’d surely have waited, as KBO teams are restricted on the number of foreign players they can roster.
