By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
As Major League Baseball (MLB) spring camps are around the corner, most big leaguers have started heading south.
But South Korea's lone big leaguer, Kim Byung-hyun, has nowhere to go because the 29-year-old pitcher has not found a new team to play for this season.
The right-hander had a rocky season last year, playing for three clubs ― the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Florida Marlins ― and logging a career-high 10 victories.
Along with the native of Gwangju, North Jeolla Province, there are 19 starting and 11 relief pitchers available in the free-agent market.
The situation seems to be going against Kim, who prefers to remain a starter, when several big names, like Livan Hernandez, Bartolo Colon, Jeff Weaver and Freddy Garcia, have not been signed yet.
Former World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Hernandez, who had an 11-11 record last season with the Diamondbacks, is a top candidate to sign a multiyear deal, and former Cy Young Award winner Colon, who has recovered from a rotator cuff injury, can still draw some interest.
Former No. 1 starters Weaver and Garcia are also expected to find new teams easily if conditions are met.
In addition, Kim's salary of $2.5 million for last season hinders him from settling in with a new team.
However, his ability to transition to a relief job is likely to provide more opportunities to the former closer. Kim began his big league career in Arizona in 1999 as a closer and set a then team record with 36 saves.
Before being traded to the Boston Red Sox for third baseman Shea Hillenbrand in 2003, he had accumulated 70 saves, and during the next two years, he had 16 with Boston.
Among the 11 relievers in the market, Bob Wickman is the Cleveland Indians' all-time saves leader and has registered double-digit saves for nine straight years, while the other 10 hurlers are behind their primes.
Kim, a sidearmer, held opponents' left-handed hitters to 75-for-237 batting and 14 home runs last year, while right-handers went 56-for-231 with six dingers against him.