Seoul: The defending South Korean baseball champions, LG Twins, announced their signing of new pitcher Yacksel Rios on Wednesday. In a corresponding move, the 2025 Korean Series winners released slumping starter Yonny Chirinos.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Rios will receive a guaranteed salary of US$350,000 for the remainder of this Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season, with the potential to earn an additional $100,000 in incentives. The Puerto Rican right-hander was initially a 12th-round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2011 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. Rios made his MLB debut with the Phillies in 2017 and has since played for several teams, including the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago Cubs. Over 93 MLB games, all in relief, Rios achieved an 8-2 record with a 6.21 ERA in 100 innings, recording 95 strikeouts against 56 walks.
This year, Rios appeared in 11 games for the Cubs' Triple-A affiliate, posting a 0-3 record with a 4.24 ERA in 17 innings. Additionally, he delivered 3 2/3 scoreless innings for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic in March. With 184 appearances in Triple-A, only two of those were starts. The Twins described Rios as "a power pitcher" expected to immediately bolster their pitching staff.
In contrast, Yonny Chirinos departs from the Twins in the midst of his second season. Chirinos struggled this year, going 2-3 with a 6.68 ERA over 33 2/3 innings in eight starts. After missing about three weeks of action due to elbow issues beginning in mid-April, Chirinos failed to regain his previous form. In 2025, he achieved a 13-6 record with a 3.31 ERA in 30 starts during his debut KBO season.
In his most recent outing against the Lotte Giants last Wednesday, Chirinos allowed six earned runs on eight hits in just 3 2/3 innings. He had been the Twins' Opening Day starter for both the 2025 and 2026 seasons. Despite Chirinos' performance issues, the Twins maintain a strong position, leading the 10-team league with a 34-20-0 record. The team is currently on a four-game winning streak and holds the second-lowest starting pitching ERA in the KBO at 3.97.