The White Sox have agreed to a two-year, $12 million deal with left-hander Anthony Kay, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Wednesday. The club hasn’t confirmed the deal, which includes a $10 million mutual option for 2028.
The 30-year-old spent the past two seasons pitching for the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan and had a 1.74 ERA with 130 strikeouts and 41 walks over 155 innings in 2025. A source told Feinsand that Kay had more lucrative offers to keep pitching in Nippon Professional Baseball, but the southpaw opted to return to MLB.
A native of Stony Brook, N.Y., Kay was selected by the Mets out of the University of Connecticut with the 31st overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, before being traded to Toronto alongside Simeon Woods Richardson for Marcus Stroman in ’19.
Kay recorded a 5.59 ERA for the Blue Jays, Cubs and Mets from 2019-23 and briefly spent time in the Athletics organization before electing free agency when he was outrighted off the A’s 40-man roster. He signed with Yokohama in January 2024.
After rejuvenating his career overseas, Kay will get another opportunity to pitch in the Majors. He only has seven big league starts under his belt, but he’s likely to join a White Sox rotation that also currently includes Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Sean Burke and Jonathan Cannon.
