15 out of 24 foreign players in the 2023 season have experience in the KBO League
Professional baseball clubs are finalizing contracts with foreign players who will be responsible for half of the year’s farming.
By the 13th, a total of 24 foreign players from 10 teams signed.
Of these, more than half of the players have succeeded in renewing their contracts. Thirteen players will play the KBO League in the 2023 season following the 2022 season. Those who have completed adaptation to the KBO league and have confirmed their skills are receiving preferential treatment this winter.
There are also several long-lived foreigners that stand out.
Casey Kelly (LG Twins) and Eric Yokishi (Kiwoom Heroes), who are ‘motivators’, stand on the mound in the KBO League for 5 consecutive years.
Kelly, who marked 1st place in the 2022 season with 16 wins and 4 losses and an average ERA of 2.54, ranked 1st in multiple wins and 5th in average ERA, re-signed with LG for a total of $ 1.8 million, recording the highest ransom among foreign players in the 2023 season announced so far.
David Buchanan accompanied the Samsung Lions for four years in a row and left his name as the longest-serving foreign player in Samsung.
There are also those who joined during the season as substitute players and stay with him until the start of the 2023 season.
KT Wiz decided to entrust the new season to Wes Benjamin and Anthony Alford, who were put in as substitutes. Benjamin and Alford performed impressively in the postseason this year, instilling trust in the team. The Lotte Giants also re-signed with Jack Rex, the “lucky man,” and the Hanwha Eagles teamed up with Felix Pena again.
There are two more familiar faces here. This means that 15 of the 24 foreign players contracted so far are experienced in the KBO league.
Raul Alcantara (Doosan Bears) and Edison Russell (Kiwoom Heroes), who left the KBO League side by side after the 2020 season, returned after three years.
Alcantara played a big role in Doosan in 2020, winning 20 wins (2 losses), and using this as a springboard, he transferred to the Hanshin Tigers of Japanese professional baseball. He was released from Hanshin after the 2022 season, but Doosan decided that Alcantara had the highest level of pitch and command in the KBO League, and started re-recruiting.
Russell, a former Major League All-Star, jumped into the KBO League as a substitute during the 2020 season, but failed to show his expectations. However, after advancing to the Mexican League, Russell captured Kiwoom’s heart again by recovering his skills, such as hitting 0.358 batting average and hitting 24 home runs in the 2022 season. 토토
Some teams are challenging the 2023 season with new faces.
SSG Landers, who won the overall championship, made a new round by signing left-hander Kirk McCarty for a total of $775,000 and hitter Guillermo Heredia for a total of $1 million.
The KIA Tigers also announced a mound replacement by signing Sean Anderson (total value of $1 million) and Adonis Medina (total value of $636,000).
On the other hand, there are four teams that have yet to finalize the composition of foreign players: SSG, LG, NC Dinos, and Hanwha.
