Merrill Kelly (Arizona Diamondbacks) is a pitcher with a ‘late-season’ type.
He was exported back to the Major League (MLB) after playing 4 years in the KBO without any big league experience.
Arizona was fascinated by Kelly’s consistency and signed a 2+2 year contract with Kelly ahead of the 2019 season. He received annual salaries of $2 million and $3 million in 2019 and 2020, respectively, and $4.25 million in 2021 with a club option at stake, and $5.25 million in the final year of the contract.먹튀검증
Kelly has been stable every year in Arizona as well. He especially faithfully performed his role as ‘Inning Eater’.
In response, Arizona agreed to a two-year contract extension with Kelly last year for a total of $18 million until 2024. He also has a $7 million club option for 2025.
Kelly, who did that, is playing a Cy Young-level role this season. As of the 12th (Korean time), he is 8-3 with an earned run average of 2.92. He is currently on a five-game winning streak. According to ESPN, Kelly is ranked #2 in the Cy Young Award.
On the other hand, Chris Flexen, who was evaluated as another successful case of reverse export of the castle KBO, seems to have run out of ‘base’. Flexen, a
promising prospect, played for the New York Mets from 2017 to 2019, but was sluggish. After all, he was looking to make a comeback in the KBO in 2020. After playing for one year, he signed a two-year contract with the Seattle Mariners for $4.75 million. At this time, he attached a condition that if he played 300 innings for two years, the $8 million vesting option would be automatically exercised. Flexen threw 317⅓ innings over two years to fulfill the option and receive $8 million this season. However, since the latter half of last year, he has been pushed to the bullpen instead of a starter and has been embroiled in endless trade rumors. Seattle did not trade him. This season, he is averaging 7.23 earned run average while going back and forth between the bullpen and the start, with no wins and only four losses. Kelly is evolving, while Flexen is a nuisance to the team with a WAR of minus 0.7. This is why his trade rumors are resurfacing.