Kia pitcher Daniel Mengden draws attention in U.S.

Pitcher Daniel Mengden’s move to the Kia Tigers has been drawing keen attention these days. The South Korean professional baseball team said Friday that it has recruited Mengden from the Oakland Athletics for a total of 1 million U.S. dollars, including a contract fee of 300,000 dollars, an annual salary of 425,000 dollars, and an option of 275,000 dollars.

MLBTradeRumors.com published Saturday a story on Mengden’s transfer to the KBO League and provided an in-depth analysis on the player.

“Mengden is more experienced in the Big League than any other foreign players who are moving to the KBO league. He does not have many strikeouts and generated grounders, but has the capability to suppress batters from hitting robust hits,” MLBTR commented on the pitcher. Commenting on the reason for Mengden’s choice of the KBO League, the outlet said, “The North American market is uncertain. He could receive more money (in the KBO League) and have his playing time guaranteed.”

Dark cloud was cast over Mengden in the 2020 season. The 27-year-old right hander, who received an elbow surgery before the season start, had one loss from four games he played, and posted an ERA of only 3.65. Making matters worse, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the season. Discharged from his team post-season, Mengden served as third baseman coach at Oakland where he decided continue relationship with Kia Tigers manager Matt Williams. Kia believes since Mengden received a relatively simple surgery to remove a bone fragment, he will more likely recover his pitching prowess.


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com