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Anthony Kay will be entering a prove-it year with the White Sox after a strong two seasons in Japan

The Chicago White Sox and left-handed pitcher Anthony Kay have agreed to a two-year $12 million contract, according to Robert Murray of Fansided.

The former first-round pick out of the University of Connecticut sports a 5.59 ERA in 85.1 innings across five major league seasons from 2019-2023 with the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs and New York Mets, but has found recent success overseas.

In a two-year stint with the Yokohama Bay Stars of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, Kay had a 2.53 ERA and struck out 249 batters across 291.2 innings, including a 1.74 ERA in 2025.

In 48 starts with the Bay Stars, Kay’s ground ball rate went up from 43% to 54.5%, and his walk rate went down from 12% to 7.9%.

Kay’s newfound success can be attributed to the new pitch he has developed while in Japan. With the Bay Stars, Kay developed a two-seam fastball, which has become his bread-and-butter pitch the last couple of seasons.

This is not the first time White Sox General Manager Chris Getz and director of pitching Brian Bannister have had to develop a reclamation project from overseas.

The Fedde Experiment

It’s a familiar type of signing for Getz: a two-year, low-risk, high-reward signing of a former first-round pick from overseas.

In 2024, Getz made a similar signing of right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde from the Korea Baseball Organization.

Fedde had not had a successful MLB career before he went overseas. In six seasons with the Washington Nationals, Fedde sported a 5.41 ERA in 454.1 innings, leading him to try to reinvent himself in Korea.

Fedde had an incredibly successful season in Korea in 2023, starting 30 games for the NC Dinos. Fedde won 20 games with a 2.00 ERA across 180.1 innings, striking out 209 batters. Because of this outstanding season, Fedde was awarded the KBO League MVP after developing some new pitches of his own.

Fedde then signed a two-year $15 million contract with the White Sox in 2024 and found immediate success.

The reigning KBO MVP in 21 games with the White Sox had a 3.11 ERA in 121.2 innings, striking out 108 batters, before being traded in a three-team deal in July of 2024 to the St. Louis Cardinals, netting the White Sox infielder Miguel Vargas, as well as minor leaguers Alexander Albertus and Jeral Perez.

Where Does Kay Fit In With Chicago?

The White Sox figure to have some difficult decisions to make in 2026. The emergence of minor league pitchers Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz and Tanner McDougal has already made a crowded rotation even more congested.

With a $12 million contract, Kay may have been an insurance policy should one of these arms struggle to make the majors in 2026 or struggle once brought up, or could even be a trade chip if he succeeds in the South Side early on.

With major leaguers Shane Smith, Sean Burke, Ky Bush, Jonathan Cannon, Drew Thorpe, Davis Martin and maybe even Mike Vasil all vying for rotation spots, this will be an interesting offseason and spring training battle for the White Sox.

Matthew Singer Matthew Singer is a sports reporter covering MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2025, and has two years of experience covering local professional, collegiate and high school sports, including writing for Cronkite News and Arizona PBS. More about Matthew Singer

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