Former Blue Jays Pitcher Scott Richmond To Pitch In South Korea In 2013

In a move overshadowed by R.A. Dickey trade talks, Canadian and former Toronto Blue Jays right hander Scott Richmond has signed a contract with the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization, according to Naver (thanks to MLB Trade Rumors for picking up the news). On the financials of the deal, the Naver article writes "30만달러(사이닝보너스 10만 달러, 연봉 20만 달러)" which I believe translates to "$300,000 USD ($100,000 signing bonus and $200,000 salary)", not $600,000 as MLB Trade Rumors has reported--someone who knows Korean can correct me in the comments.

The 33-year old Vancouver native played in parts of four seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays (2008-2009, 2011-2012) after spending 2005-2007 with the independent Edmonton Cracker-Cats of the Northern League. His best season came in 2009, beginning in March when he was Team Canada's ace in the World Baseball Classic. In April, he won the American League Rookie of the Month award, going 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA, striking out 20 on 10 walks over four starts. He missed time in 2009 with right shoulder tendinitis, and most of 2010 with a right shoulder impingement and only ended up making nine minor-league appearances that season. In 2011 he was recalled to the Blue Jays on April 10 and threw six pitches to Mark Trumbo to fly out before being shipped back to AAA Las Vegas the next day. He spent the rest of 2011 and most of 2012 with the 51s. He was recalled again this year in late June to help with the struggling bullpen and made three relief appearances, the last one being on Canada Day.

Richmond will be heading to play for the Lotte Giants who play in beautiful Busan, on the southeastern coast of South Korea. The Giants squeaked into the playoffs in 2012, finishing in fourth place with a 65-62 (.512) record. The last time they captured the Korean Series title was in 1992, which is pretty crummy in a league with eight teams.

Good luck, Scott, with your new ventures in East Asia. I hope he likes the food there! It is unknown how this would affect his place on Team Canada in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.The KBO Opening Day is March 30.

Another former Blue Jays pitcher, Dana Eveland, will be joining his former teammate in Korea. Eveland agreed to a contract with the Hanwha Eagles, who play in Daejeon.