Sanctioned pitcher signs with hometown club

A South Korean pitcher serving gambling-related sanctions has signed with his hometown club.

The Kia Tigers in the Korea Baseball Organization announced Monday they've agreed to terms on a one-year deal with right-hander Lim Chang-yong. The deal is worth 300 million won and Lim will sign the contract once he returns from his personal training camp in Guam.

The KBO slapped the All-Star closer with a half-season suspension in January after he was fined for illegal overseas gambling charges. The KBO teams each play 144 games this season, meaning Lim will only be available for the Tigers' final 72 games of the season.

If he had signed past the half-way point in the season, then Lim's ban would have extended into next year.

Lim had pitched the last two seasons with the Samsung Lions, but they released him in November while he was under a gambling investigation.

According to the Tigers, Lim has offered to donate all 300 million won from his contract "for the development of baseball."

The Tigers added they wanted to give Lim a second chance and allow him to finish his career in his hometown of Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul.

Lim said he has done his share of soul-searching and he was grateful for the new opportunity granted him by the Tigers.

"I've been waiting to return to the ground, and I am so happy to be playing baseball again," Lim said through the club. "I'd like to seek forgiveness from the fans that have been behind me."

Lim is one of only a few South Korean players to have competed in the KBO, Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball. He made his KBO debut with the Tigers in 1995, when the franchise was called the Haitai Tigers, and went 29-24 with 60 saves in four seasons with a 2.68 ERA.

Lim pitched for the Lions from 1999 to 2007, before leaving for the Tokyo Yakult Swallow. He picked up 128 saves in five seasons there, the most by a South Korean pitcher in the NPB.

Lim had a brief stint with the Chicago Cubs in 2013 before returning to the Lions before the 2014 season. He led the KBO in saves in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2015.

He is ranked second in career saves with 232, 45 behind Oh Seung-hwan of the St. Louis Cardinals. (Yonhap)