According to Craig Mish of The Miami Herald, former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Straily is now a free agent, or at least will be when the lockout ends. Straily had spent the last two seasons with the Lotte Giants in Korea.
Straily, 33, last pitched in MLB in 2019.
Dan Straily is looking to return to MLB
Dan Straily spent part of eight seasons in MLB before he went over to Korea, including three years with the Oakland A’s and two years with the Miami Marlins.
In MLB, arguably, his best season came in 2016 with the Cincinnati Reds. Straily went 14-8 with a 3.76 ERA in 34 games (31 starts) and 191.1 innings pitched. He had a 113 ERA+, a 4.88 FIP, and a 1.186 WHIP while averaging 3.4 walks and 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
Earlier this month, Straily spoke with readers of MLB Trade Rumors in a live chat and he made some of his intentions very clear.
He said that he is “always looking to play in MLB. Anyone who puts on a uniform has the dream of pitching in MLB,” said Straily.
He also said that, eventually, he wants to end his career in the majors so he can have his son watch him.
“I have said since day one that I want to finish my career in the MLB where my son can watch me pitch,” Straily said.
This doesn’t mean that Straily will end up in the major leagues as he could decide to resign in Korea (like he did last offseason). However, he said that part of the reason why he resigned in Korea for the 2021 season was because of the uncertainty of the MLB season due to the pandemic and Lotte gave him a strong offer to stay.
In Korea, he combined to pitch 360.1 innings with an ERA of 3.22. Straily, a noted fly ball pitcher in the major leagues, seemingly had that number decrease, though, as he only allowed 22 homers. For comparison, in 2016 (his best season), he allowed 31 homers in 191.1 innings.