The Toronto Blue Jays are betting that the reigning MVP of South Korea's KBO League can keep it up in Major League Baseball.
The Blue Jays are signing pitcher Cody Ponce to a 3-year, $30 million contract, according to reports. The 31-year-old is expected to slot into Toronto's rotation for 2026.
Ponce has pitched at the MLB level before, but did not make much of an impression. He threw 55.1 innings over two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 and 2021 and posted a 5.86 ERA.
A move overseas did wonders for Ponce. He spent three seasons in Japan before playing for the Hanwha Eagles in 2025, where he posted a 1.89 ERA and struck out 252 batters in 180.2 innings. That was enough to convince Toronto to give him $10 million per year despite his lack of success in North America.
There is precedent for this type of move. After an unremarkable MLB career, pitcher Erick Fedde played in Korea in 2023 and also won MVP honors. He parlayed that into a 2-year, $15 million deal with the Chicago White Sox, and he ultimately posted a 4.27 ERA over 318.1 innings of work after moving back to MLB.
Ponce was even better in Korea than Fedde was, and there was significant interest in him from MLB teams. The Blue Jays clearly felt that they needed to pay up to get a deal done.