The Doosan Bears announced Wednesday they have signed former major league pitcher Robert Stock, pairing the hard-throwing right-hander with the reigning MVP Ariel Miranda in the rotation.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club said Stock has agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $700,000. He will earn $400,000 in guaranteed salary and $100,000 in signing bonus. He can make an additional $200,000 in incentives.

Stock, 32, was a second-round choice by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2009 major league draft. But he was released by the Cardinals at the end of 2014 and bounced around a few other clubs before making his big league debut with the San Diego Padres in 2018.

The journeyman right-hander then pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 2020, and split last year with the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets.

He was 0-2 with an 8.00 ERA in three starts last year. For his big league career, Stock was 2-4 with a 4.71 ERA in 55 appearances, including three starts. He struck out 76 batters in 72 2/3 innings.

In 62 career Triple-A games, including nine starts, Stock went 4-3 with a 3.13 ERA, with 106 strikeouts in 92 innings.

Stock averaged 96.2 mph with his four-seam fastball last year, according to Statcast. The Bears noted that Stock even touched 101 mph, and he also throws cutters, changeups and sliders.

The Bears are hoping Stock will give them a dominant one-two punch with Miranda, who led the KBO last year with a league-record 225 strikeouts en route to winning the MVP award.

"His fastball has great movement, and his cutter plays in the majors," the Bears said. "Though he has mostly been a reliever, he has been getting opportunities to start since the second half of 2019. He can eat up some innings."

KBO teams are allowed to sign up to three foreign players, but no more than two pitchers. The Bears, who re-signed Miranda on Christmas Eve, are said to be closing in on a new deal with their designated hitter Jose Miguel Fernandez, who has been with the team since 2019. (Yonhap)