The South Korean baseball club Hanwha Eagles announced they signed right-hander Alex Maestri on Tuesday.
The Korea Baseball Organization team disclosed the terms of the deal in Japanese yen: Maestri, who’d pitched for the Japanese club Orix Buffaloes the past four seasons, will make 20 million yen ($175,740) in salary and receive 30 million yen in a signing bonus.
The native of Cesena, Italy, became the first Italian-born pitcher to be signed by a big league club in 2006, when the Chicago Cubs acquired him as a non-drafted free agent.
He never pitched in the big leagues, however, and spent five years in the U.S. minors. He also had stints in Australia and Italy before landing a deal with the Buffaloes before the 2012 season.
Maestri has a career U.S. minor league record of 24-17 and a 3.75 ERA in 191 appearances, 20 of them starts.
In Japan, he went 14-11 with a 3.44 ERA in 96 appearances, including 21 starts.
KBO clubs are allowed up to three foreign players each, and Maestri completes the Eagles’ imported contingency, which also includes right-hander Esmil Rogers and catcher/first baseman Wilin Rosario. (Yonhap)
