Cody Ponce and Ryan Weiss, two of the Hanwha Eagles’ – of the Korea Baseball Organisation (KBO) league and runner-up in the 2025 Korean Series – top two starting pitchers, have signed to Major League Baseball (MLB) clubs. Ponce agreed to a three-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays while Weiss signed a one-year contract with the San Diego Padres.

Ponce, a 31-year-old right-hander, was in his first KBO season. Before moving to Korea, the WBSC Premier12 2019 alum pitched 20 MLB games over the 2020 and 2021 seasons and won 10 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) games over three seasons for the Nippon Ham Fighters.

He made KBO history by breaking the one-season strikeout record with 252. Drew Anderson of the SSG Landers, a Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) 31-year-old veteran, also broke the previous one-season strikeout record (224), getting 245 strikeouts in 171.2 innings.

Ponce also led the league in wins (17), earned run average (1.89), and won the pitching Triple Crown. KBO named him the 2025 MVP. The right-hander also had 15 consecutive wins, became the fastest to reach 200 strikeouts in the league’s history and is on pace to break the single-season strikeout record (224). He holds the nine-inning strikeout record (18) and tied legendary Dong-yol Sun, who struck out 18 in a 13-inning game.

Ponce made US$1 million in his KBO record season. The three-year deal with the Blue Jays, which is pending a physical, is worth US$10 million per year.

Weiss, a 28-year-old right-hander, was in his second KBO season. The Eagles signed him in June 2024 with what, at the time, was tagged as a temporary injury replacement. Weiss filled the spot left by Ricardo Sanchez in the rotation.

It was not his first Asian campaign, since he pitched for part of the 2023 season for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). Before that, he appeared in 132 Minor League Baseball (MiLB) games, including 70 at the Triple-A level, over five seasons.

In 2025, Weiss started 30 games for the Eagles and posted a 16-5 record and a 2.87 earned run average (ERA). He allowed 127 hits and 56 walks in 178.2 innings, while striking out 207. Moving to the Padres, Weiss will improve his salary from US$600,000 to a reported $2.6 million.