ORLANDO, Fla. — Left-hander Anthony Kay is returning to the major leagues, finalizing a two-year, $12 million contract with the Chicago White Sox.
Kay will get salaries of $5 million each in 2026 and 2027, and the deal includes a $10 million mutual option for 2028 with a $2 million buyout.
The 30-year-old pitched in Japan for the past two years for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, leading the Central League with a 67.8 ground-ball percentage and 7.55 strikeouts per nine innings. He last appeared in a big league game on Oct. 1, 2023, with the New York Mets.
Chicago finished last in the AL Central this year with a 60-102 record, a 19-game improvement from the previous season. The White Sox are hoping to take another step forward in 2026 behind a promising group of young players that includes Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel and Chase Meidroth.
Kay started in Japan, but he worked out of the bullpen mostly during his first stint in the majors.
Kay was selected by the Mets in the first round of the 2016 amateur draft out of the University of Connecticut. He is 4-2 with a 5.59 ERA in 44 major league games, also playing for Toronto and the Chicago Cubs.
