Major League Baseball veteran and former World Series starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie will join the competition-leading Melbourne Aces for the second half of the season.
The right-hander will first line up for the World All-Star team against an Australian selection in the ABL's showpiece event in Melbourne on December 22.
At the Aces Guthrie will join fellow American pitcher Mark Hamburger, who has been key to their surge to the top of the ladder.
Guthrie, 37, has played more than 300 Major League games at four clubs, and joins Melbourne from the Kansas City Royals.
He was part of their losing 2014 World Series line-up and made two starts, and remained with the club when they triumphed a year later.
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Set to arrive in Melbourne next week, Guthrie said he was excited about playing baseball in another country.
"I'm super excited about playing the ABL and experiencing a new culture," Guthrie said in a statement.
"The ABL will be good preparation for the next chapter in my baseball career and hopefully I can help grow the profile of the sport a little bit while I'm out there".
Melbourne Aces manager Jon Deeble said Guthrie's signing was a nod to the level of baseball being played in Australia.
"This guy is playing in the Major Leagues right now and pitched in a World Series two years ago, so to have him come out is a major coup for the league" said Deeble.
"It just goes to show that people know about the ABL and are interested in coming out to experience it for themselves".
