Following three seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization, outfielder Sócrates Brito may return to North America for the 2025 campaign, hoping to resume his major-league career.
The 32-year-old has reportedly received interest from a handful of big-league clubs this off-season, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported Friday. He last appeared in the New York Yankees’ system during the 2021 season.
A handful of MLB clubs have expressed interest in OF Socrates Brito, who is coming off 310/.359/.516 with 26 HR season for the KBO champ KIA Tigers. It was Brito’s third season in Korea.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 29, 2024
Brito is coming off an impressive performance with the Kia Tigers, who won last season’s Korean Series — the KBO’s championship series. The left-handed-hitting outfielder posted career-highs in home runs (26) and RBIs (97) while slashing .310/.359/.516 in 140 games, accounting for a 122 wRC+ (100 league average).
The 6-foot-2 slugger also struck out just 15.1 per cent of the time despite registering a walk rate of less than seven per cent. Additionally, he went 13-for-18 in stolen base attempts.
Brito spent one season with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019, joining the organization via trade from the San Diego Padres. However, he only logged 17 games with the big-league club, going 3-for-39 (.077 AVG) with 17 strikeouts and only four walks in that span.
The Dominican native spent most of that season at triple-A Buffalo, hitting 16 home runs and 67 RBIs with a .282/.328/.510 slash line and 107 wRC+ across 97 games.
Following the ’19 season, the Blue Jays granted Brito free agency, and he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates shortly afterwards. But he didn’t play in ’20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which cancelled the minor-league campaign.
Brito caught on with the Yankees ahead of the ’21 season, spending the entire year at triple-A, where he recorded nine home runs, 53 RBIs and slashed .251/.315/.376 over 107 contests. He became a free agent during the ensuing off-season, clearing a path to rebuild his stock in the KBO.
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