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Tigers sign pitcher James Naile for his third KBO season

Published: 26 Nov. 2025, 15:09

Kia Tigers pitcher James Naile pitches during a KBO game against the KT Wiz at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on April 15. [YONHAP]

The Kia Tigers announced on Wednesday that they have signed starting pitcher James Naile for his third season in Korea.

The Tigers said Naile agreed to a new one-year deal worth up to $2 million. The 32-year-old received a $200,000 signing bonus and a $1.6 million salary, up from $1.2 million this season. The American pitcher can earn an additional $200,000 in incentives.

In 27 starts this year, Naile went 8-4 with a 2.25 ERA to finish second overall in the KBO. The right-hander also set his KBO career highs with 164 1/3 innings pitched and 152 strikeouts.

In his first KBO season in 2024, Naile led all qualified pitchers with a 2.53 ERA and helped the Tigers win the Korean Series title.

Naile posted better peripheral numbers across the board in 2025 than the previous year, but he only won eight decisions as the middling Tigers offense only offered him 2.37 runs' worth of support per game, compared to 4.12 runs per game last year. The Tigers finished eighth with a win-loss-tie record of 65-75-4 to miss the postseason.

In the past two seasons, Naile topped the KBO with a 2.38 ERA, with no other qualified pitcher having posted a sub-3.00 ERA in that stretch.

KBO teams can sign up to two foreign-born pitchers and will be able to sign another pitcher from an Asian country or Australia beginning in 2026. The Tigers ended the 2025 season with Naile and another American pitcher, Adam Oller, as their two foreign hurlers.

Yonhap