SSG Landers sign Drew Anderson on $570,000 deal in midseason move

The Landers are the first KBO team to announce a change to their foreign player lineup following the start of the 2024 season, which began March 23.

Drew Anderson [SCREEN CAPTURE FROM MILB.COM]

The SSG Landers have signed former major league pitcher Drew Anderson for an annual salary of $570,000, replacing right-hander Robert Dugger, the club announced Saturday.

The Landers are the first KBO team to announce a change to their foreign player lineup following the start of the 2024 season, which began March 23.

Dugger, who in November joined the Landers on a one-year deal worth up to $900,000, had a poor month, picking up a 12.71 ERA over six games with zero wins and three losses. He last recorded a 23.63 ERA in the Landers’ 12-7 win over the Lotte Giants on April 24 — the day the Incheon club’s veteran slugger Choi Jeong broke the KBO’s all-time home run record.

Anderson, 30, comes to Korea from a couple months with the Toledo Mud Hens, a minor league affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, where he earned a 3.86 ERA over nine games with two wins and one loss.

He spent the previous two years in Japan, pitching for the NPB’s Hiroshima Toyo Carp, recording a 3.05 ERA over 34 games across the 2022 and 2023 seasons with seven wins and five losses.

His last time pitching in the MLB was for the Texas Rangers in 2021 and before that, appeared in one game for the Chicago White Sox in 2020 and made his MLB debut with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2017.

"I would like to thank SSG for giving me the opportunity to challenge myself once again for a new stage," Anderson said in the Landers announcement posted online. "I will try to adapt to the league and the team as soon as possible and bring a lot of wins."

Each club in the KBO is allowed three foreign players on their roster and can make up to two midseason foreign player moves per year.

Anderson was set to undergo a medical check as of Saturday.

The Landers had 16 wins, 13 losses and one draw as of press time. They are set to play the KT Wiz at SSG Landers field in Incheon on Sunday at 2 p.m.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]