Anthony Kay To Sign With NPBs Yokohama BayStar

Left-hander is signing with the Yokohama BayStars of Japans Nippon Profe sional Baseball, reports Robert Murray of FanSided ( ). Itll be the first overseas stint for the CAA client. Kay, 29 in March, is a former first-round pick of the Mets. Traded to the Blue Jays as a prospect in the deal, he debuted with Toronto in 2019. That kicked off a stretch of five seasons with some amount of MLB action. His largest workload came in 2021, when he logged 33 2/3 innings of 5.61 ERA ball. The UCONN product remained with the Jays through the 2022 season. He bounced around the league Justin Williams Jersey last year, going to three different teams on waivers. Kay opened the season with the Cubs and briefly landed with the Mets at years end. During the postseason, the As claimed him. Oakland cut him loose a couple weeks later without any game action, sending him to the open market. Kay has yet to find much MLB succe s. He owns a 5.59 ERA through 85 1/3 innings, working mostly in a long relief capacity. Middling control has been the primary culprit. Kay has walked upwards of 12% of batters faced in his MLB career. He handed out free pa ses at a 13.6% clip during his big league work last season and walked a nearly identical 13.7% of opponents over 37 1/3 innings in Triple-A. Strike-throwing i sues notwithstanding, Kay represents an intriguing flier for an NPB team. His fastball has averaged just under 95 MPH during his time in the majors. He has a reasonable 22.4% strikeout percentage in his big league career and fanned more than 31% of opposing hitters in Triple-A a year ago. That ability to mi s bats wouldve enabled Kay to find a minor league contract if he wanted to remain in affiliated ball. The opportunity in Japan allows him to lock in a salary that is surely above what hed have made in Triple-A. Hell take that avenue instead. If he pitches well in NPB, he could reemerge as a target for major league teams a year or two from now. Ryan Suzuki Jersey