Tigers sign pitcher James Naile for 3rd KBO season

Kia Tigers starting pitcher James Naile pitches against the Samsung Lions during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southern city of Gwangju, Sept. 10. Courtesy of Kia Tigers

The Kia Tigers announced Wednesday they have signed starting pitcher James Naile for his third season in Korea.

The Tigers said Naile agreed to a new one-year deal worth up to $2 million. The 32-year-old received a $200,000 signing bonus and will make $1.6 million in salary, up from $1.2 million this season. The American pitcher can earn another $200,000 in incentives.

In 27 starts this year, Naile went 8-4 with a 2.25 ERA to finish second overall in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). The right-hander also set his KBO career highs with 164 1/3 innings pitched and 152 strikeouts.

In his first KBO season in 2024, Naile led all qualified pitchers with a 2.53 ERA and helped the Tigers win the Korean Series title.

Naile posted better peripheral numbers across the board in 2025 than the previous year, but he only won eight decisions as the middling Tigers offense only offered him 2.37 runs worth of support per game — compared to 4.12 runs per game last year. The Tigers finished eighth with a win-loss-tie record of 65-75-4 to miss the postseason.

Over the past two seasons, Naile is tops in the KBO with a 2.38 ERA, with no other qualified pitcher having posted a sub-3.00 ERA in that stretch.

KBO teams can each sign up to two foreign-born pitchers, plus another pitcher from an Asian country or Australia beginning in 2026. The Tigers ended the 2025 season with Naile and another American pitcher, Adam Oller, as their two foreign hurlers.