Former Phillies RHP Jake Thompson Headed to Korean Baseball Organization

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

Just one day ago, former Philadelphia Phillies southpaw reliever Joely Rodriguez signed a one year, $1 million contract with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.

On Thursday, another former Phillies relief arm made the move to overseas, international baseball. Right-hander Jake Thompson, one of the six players the Phillies acquired from the Texas Rangers for Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman in July 2015, signed with the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization, according to The Athletic's Sung Min Kim.

Thompson, 24, went 7-8 with a 4.87 ERA, 81-61 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.530 WHIP spanning 30 career appearances and 18 starts with the Phillies from 2016-2018.

Korea's Naver Sports writes: 

New foreign pitcher Thompson has signed a contract for a total of $900,000 ($760,000, $140,000 option). Thompson, who was named to the Detroit Tigers for the second round of the 2012 Detroit Tigers, is a right-handed pitcher with a 193-centimeter, 100-kg physique. He was 7-8 with an ERA of 4.87 in 30 games in the major leagues, and was recently ranked 6th in the Dominican Winter League, earning a 1.93 ERA with a 2-1 record in 28 innings. 

The Phillies designated Thompson for assignment in August to make room for Justin Bour, and later traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations. Thompson never played in the majors with the Brewers.

Thompson is not the only former Phillie to head to the KBO this offseason. First baseman Tommy Joseph signed with the league's LG Twins on Nov. 26.