MLB Trade Rumors dropped the confirmation Saturday: Chris Paddack is a Samsung Lion now. It's the kind of headline that stops you mid-scroll, not because it's shocking exactly, but because it closes the book on one of the stranger free-agent journeys of the 2026 season.
MLB Trade Rumors confirmed the deal that sends Paddack overseas.
Paddack, 30, is barely two weeks removed from his last MLB appearance, which came with the Texas Rangers. That was actually stop number 3 for him in 2026 alone — he also pitched for the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds this year, on top of his earlier career with the San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers. Five organizations in one calendar year is not a normal résumé, even for a journeyman reliever/swingman type. It's the story of a pitcher who kept getting chances and kept getting cut loose.
Now he's headed to a team that's actually rolling. The Lions currently sit atop the KBO standings, and according to reporting out of Korea, Paddack is walking into a real opportunity — he's replacing Australian lefty Jack O'Loughlin, who had been holding down a rotation spot as a stopgap for injured starter Matt Manning. Reports put the deal at $473,333 for the remainder of the season, a modest number by MLB standards but a real vote of confidence from a first-place club mid-pennant-race.
The KBO has become a well-worn landing spot for former big leaguers looking to rebuild value or just keep pitching competitively — Paddack joins that lineage now. For a guy who was a top prospect and rookie-year sensation with the Padres back in 2019, bouncing across 5 organizations in a single season before hopping overseas is a humbling turn. But it's also a fresh runway: a real rotation role, a contender, and a chance to put together a stretch of starts without the shadow of a waiver claim hanging over him.
For the stateside free-agent pitching pool, Paddack's exit is one less name on the board heading toward the deadline. Teams scrambling for rotation and bullpen depth will have to look elsewhere, and Paddack's move underscores just how quickly a guy can go from designated-for-assignment fodder to a first-place team's newest starter — just not in the league anyone expected.