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Palka signed a one-year, $120,000 contract with the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization on Wednesday, Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News Agency reports. The deal also includes $50,000 in incentives.
Though he wasn't included in the White Sox's 60-man player pool for 2020, Palka's rights remained under organizational control, so the Lions will pay Chicago a $100,000 buyout to secure his services. As he heads to Korea, Palka will be replacing a former White Sox organizational mate in Tyler Saladino, who was released by the Lions due to his slow recovery from a back injury. The 28-year-old Palka most notably slugged 27 home runs for the White Sox in 2018, but his 34.7 percent career strikeout rate in the majors often left him prone to deep slumps. The strikeouts should prove to be less of an issue in the KBO, where pitchers typically throw at much lower velocities than their MLB counterparts.
