Baseball-Ex-Cardinals pitcher Kim joins S. Korea's Landers in record KBO deal

Former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun has joined South Korean side SSG Landers on a four-year contract worth a KBO League record 15.1 billion won ($12.2 million), the team announced on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old represented SK Wyverns - the name of the Landers team before it changed owners - until 2019, before heading to the United States to play in Major League Baseball with the Cardinals.

Left-hander Kim became a free agent in 2021 and said he had no doubts about his next destination, after being offered a massive salary and the opportunity to reconnect with fans from South Korea.

"While pitching in the majors, I got to experience baseball at the highest level and also learned the value of connecting with fans," Kim, who will take part in team training on Wednesday, said in a statement.

"I was able to challenge myself in the majors because of support from fans here, and I decided I wanted to give back to them once I returned to the KBO.

"The Landers recognised my value with the biggest contract ever in the KBO, and I didn't have to think long and hard about the reunion."

Kim was the KBO regular season MVP in 2008 and claimed four Korean Series titles with the Incheon-based Wyverns.

($1 = 1,237.4300 won)

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)