Toronto: Cody Ponce, the South Korean baseball MVP in 2025, has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
According to Yonhap News Agency, team sources confirmed on Wednesday that Ponce is joining the Blue Jays, corroborating earlier reports from Toronto and the United States that the right-hander had agreed to a three-year deal worth US$30 million.
Ponce was named the MVP of the 2025 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season last month after capturing the Triple Crown with 17 wins, a 1.89 ERA, and a league-record 252 strikeouts in 180 2/3 innings for the Hanwha Eagles. The 31-year-old, who has 20 major league games under his belt with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 and 2021, previously pitched in Japan for three seasons before joining the Eagles for the 2025 season.
The reigning American League (AL) pennant winners, the Blue Jays, will feature Ponce in a rotation led by incumbent ace Kevin Gausman, former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, and Dylan Cease, the 2022 AL Cy Young runner-up. The team also boasts rising star Trey Yesavage, who excelled in the World Series despite limited regular-season experience. With veterans Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt as free agents and Jose Berrios recovering from a late-season injury, Ponce's addition fills a crucial role in the team's pitching lineup.
Within the same day, reports from the U.S. indicated that Ryan Weiss, another ace from the Hanwha Eagles' 2025 season, has signed with the Houston Astros. Citing team and league sources, the reports noted that Weiss will earn $2.6 million in his one-year major league contract, with the potential to exceed $7 million through 2027 if a club option is exercised for a second season.
Weiss, who turns 29 next Wednesday, has not previously pitched in the majors. He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018 before taking his talent to Asia, first to Taiwan in 2023, and then to the KBO in 2024. As a temporary injury replacement, Weiss excelled, earning a full contract for the 2025 season, where he emerged as one of the KBO's top starters with a 16-5 record, a 2.87 ERA, and 207 strikeouts over 178 2/3 innings.
Together, Weiss and Ponce became the first pair of teammates in the KBO to each surpass 200 strikeouts in a season, helping the Eagles reach the postseason for the first time since 2018. However, they fell to the LG Twins in the Korean Series.
Anticipating the departure of both aces, the Eagles have signed former minor league pitcher Wilkel Hernandez and acquired Taiwanese hurler Wang Yan-Cheng as their Asian quota player. KBO clubs are allowed to sign up to two foreign-born pitchers and, starting in the 2026 season, an additional player from an Asian country or Australia, leaving room for the Eagles to add another overseas pitcher.