Cody Ponce Could Command Three-Year $30-40M Deal

Right-hander Cody Ponce has gone from fringe MLB arm to one of the most intriguing pitching free agents on the market. A record-shattering season in Korea and a late-career reinvention have front offices buzzing.

His early return to the United States, coupled with growing contract projections, signals that Ponce is poised to become the next big KBO success story to jump back to Major League Baseball.

Cody Ponce Leaves South Korea Early as MLB Interest Surges

Ponce and his wife welcomed a daughter in early November. They had planned to stay in South Korea through the end of the year, but that changed fast.

As teams started pushing for in-person evaluations and meetings, the 31-year-old righty packed his bags sooner than expected. He returned to the U.S. to capitalize on his rising market.

This isn’t just a casual round of exploratory talks. Multiple teams see Ponce as a legitimate mid-rotation option, and his recent dominance in the KBO has made him one of the most closely watched arms outside of MLB.

Projected Contract: A New Benchmark for KBO Returnees

Industry expectations around Ponce’s next deal are eye-opening. Current estimates suggest he could land a three-year contract worth between $30 million and $40 million.

For comparison, Erick Fedde—another former MLB arm who revitalized his career in the KBO—set the standard with a three-year, $15 million guarantee. If Ponce cracks the $30–$40 million range, he’ll double that benchmark and show just how much teams now value performance in overseas leagues when it comes with improved velocity and underlying metrics.

A Historic 2025 Season with the Hanwha Eagles

Ponce didn’t just pitch well for the Hanwha Eagles—he dominated to an extent rarely seen in the KBO. His 2025 campaign will be remembered as one of the great single-season performances by a foreign pitcher in league history.

The headline number is his 1.89 ERA over 180 2/3 innings. That workload and efficiency scream top-of-the-rotation form, regardless of league.

The strikeout totals are where Ponce truly separated himself. Over the course of the season, he struck out 252 batters, setting a new KBO single-season strikeout record.

Strikeout Records That Redefined His Ceiling

For a pitcher who was never viewed as a pure strikeout artist during his initial MLB stint, that’s a dramatic transformation. He also delivered one of the most dominant outings in league history, fanning 18 hitters in a single game to establish a new KBO single-game strikeout record.

Performances like that helped power him to the league’s ultimate individual honor. Unsurprisingly, Ponce’s dominance culminated in him being named KBO MVP, an award that resonated back to MLB scouting departments already tracking his progress.

The Reinvention: Velocity Bump and Expanded Arsenal

What makes Ponce’s resurgence so compelling for MLB teams is that it’s not just a case of a pitcher carving up a weaker league. He’s a different pitcher now, both in terms of stuff and approach, than he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

During his 2020–21 stint in the majors, Ponce struggled to miss bats consistently. His results reflected that.

Since then, his work in Japan and Korea has rebuilt his profile from the ground up. In MLB, Ponce’s fastball averaged about 93.2 mph.

From 93.2 mph to 95 mph – and More Weapons

In Korea, that number climbed to an average of 95 mph. That extra velocity has let him attack hitters more aggressively in the zone and set up his secondary pitches more effectively.

Equally important, he has added and refined multiple weapons:

With that upgraded arsenal, Ponce has evolved into a strikeout-oriented, power-armed starter. He’s not the pitch-to-contact depth arm he looked like in Pittsburgh.

From Pirates Struggles to International Star

Ponce’s journey hasn’t been linear. With the Pirates, he logged just 55 1/3 innings across the 2020–21 seasons and posted a 5.86 ERA with a 19.6% strikeout rate.

Those numbers pushed him to the margins of MLB rosters and eventually out of the league. What followed was a deliberate reconstruction of his career: three years in Japan and one in Korea, where he rebuilt his repertoire, his confidence, and his value.

The version of Cody Ponce returning to MLB discussions is not the same pitcher who left. He’s got a new look, a new arsenal, and, honestly, a shot to surprise a lot of people.

Hanwha’s Move Signals His Next Chapter

The Hanwha Eagles have started planning for life after Ponce. They signed Wilkel Hernandez as his likely replacement in the rotation.

That move says a lot. The club doesn’t expect Ponce back for 2026 or after.

For MLB teams, that’s basically an open invitation. With his KBO MVP season done, his velocity up, and his strikeout rates climbing, Ponce suddenly looks like one of the offseason’s most intriguing pitching bets.

He’s a potential frontline arm, available for cash instead of prospects. If he really lands that projected three-year, $30–$40 million deal, it’ll show just how far he’s come—from a big-league afterthought to a centerpiece in the international free agent market.

 
Here is the source article for this story: Report: Cody Ponce Could Command More Than $30 Million