KBO MVP Erick Fedde agrees to deal with Chicago White Sox

Baseball

Published: 06 Dec. 2023, 11:53 Updated: 06 Dec. 2023, 16:18

KBO MVP Erick Fedde agrees to deal with Chicago White Sox

Erick Fedde pitches for the NC Dinos during a postseason game against the KT Wiz at Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi in October. [YONHAP]

Erick Fedde, MVP of the 2023 KBO season, is returning to the MLB on a two-year, $15-million deal with the Chicago White Sox, according to MLB.com. A physical contract is still pending.

The American pitcher will leave Korea after a record-breaking freshman year — and the NC Dinos without their ace.

Fedde recorded a 2.00 ERA with 20 and six losses and quickly rose to lead the KBO. In July, he tied the KBO record for a single pitcher earning a win against all nine opposing teams in the fewest games — just 15.

NC Dinos starter Erick Fedde beats the KBO in 15 games

Fedde’s pitching led the Changwon team to the postseason for the first time since they defeated the Doosan Bears to win the Korean Series in 2020.

The 30-year-old right-hander signed with the Dinos last fall on a one-year deal worth up to $1 million, the maximum for a first-year foreign player in the KBO. He came to Korea from the MLB where he had played for the Washington Nationals since 2017.

Under KBO rules, teams can have up to three foreign players on their roster. First-year salaries are capped at $1 million but can be increased if a player is re-signed by the same club.

The Dinos offered Fedde a lucrative deal to stay in Korea. The team put together “the best offer we could have made within the rules,” Dinos general manager Lim Sun-nam told Yonhap last week.

Fedde came to the KBO with a more muted record, with a career 5.41 ERA with 21 wins and 33 losses over six years in the MLB.

But in Korea, titles poured.

The Dinos ace was named the KBO’s Player of the Month in September and weeks later, became the first foreign pitcher to win the Triple Crown, capturing the lead in wins, ERA and strikeouts — and the fourth pitcher to do so in KBO history. In October, Fedde also won the Choi Dong-won Award, given to the league’s top pitcher.

Other foreign players whose contracts were set to expire have extended their time in the KBO.

LG Twins ace Casey Kelly signed on for his sixth year in the KBO after pitching the team to their 4-1 Korean Series win against the KT Wiz as the Game 5 winning pitcher. And fellow Twins player, infielder Austin Dean, also re-signed for another year in Seoul.

Meanwhile, KBO stars (and brothers-in-law) Lee Jung-hoo and Go Woo-suk have officially been posted to the MLB after seven years playing professionally in Korea.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]