The 27-year-old Rodriguez spent the 2023-24 seasons with the Yakult Swallows in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, which he parlayed into a big-league deal with the Brewers last winter. He ended up throwing 19 2/3 innings in the majors between Milwaukee and Baltimore, but was tagged for 20 runs in that time. The 2025 season was Rodriguez’s second with at least some MLB work. He also appeared briefly with Detroit in 2022. He surrendered 55 runs in 52 2/3 MLB frames, but posted a sub-2.00 ERA in 45 1/3 innings as a reliever during his 2024 season in the NPB.
Reyes, another former Tiger, is entering his third season with the KBO’s Giants. The 31-year-old has slashed .339/.390/.493 in 1,275 plate appearances without missing a game during his first two KBO campaigns. Reyes previously played in parts of five seasons with Detroit from 2018-22, hitting a combined .264/.294/.379 in a nearly identical number of plate appearances (1,280) as his KBO workload to date. Although he hasn’t been a major league regular, this year’s deal with Lotte will net him guaranteed earnings worth $3.35 million during his three years in South Korea (not including some incentives he’s sure to get along the way).
Beasley, 30, pitched in the majors with the D-backs and Blue Jays from 2020-22, pitching a combined 24 2/3 innings with a 5.84 ERA. The right-hander has a solid track record in Triple-A and has pitched the past three seasons for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He pitched a 2.82 ERA in his three seasons with Hanshin, but spent most of last season with the Tigers’ farm club. Like Rodriguez and Reyes, Beasley never really gained a foothold in the Majors, but has made a nice living overseas professionally. He is still young enough that a possible MLB comeback cannot be completely ruled out, but he will need to take a step forward after last year’s difficult performance in Japan.
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