Solid performances by Kia Tigers?dominant one-two punch Rick Guttormson, left, and Aquilino Lopez, who combined for 27 victories this past season en route to their team topping the Korean Series, have put the seven other teams in a rush to find foreign pitchers during the offseason. / Korea Times File |
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
The eight teams of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) have been busy recruiting foreign players in the hot stove league.
As the Lotte Giants signed former Major Leaguer Ryan Sadowski Wednesday, five clubs ― the Hanwha Eagles, SK Wyverns, Samsung Lions, Kia Tigers and the Giants ― are on their way to signing two non-Korean players for their 2010 campaigns.
KBO teams are permitted to have up to two import players each.
Each club reported to the KBO on Nov. 25 on whether they were opting to resign their foreign players. At the time, the clubs reported they were planning to re-sign a total of 11 foreign players out of the 16 who played last season in Korea. However, Bradley Thomas, a closer for the Eagles, bolted to Major League Baseball's (MLB) Detroit Tigers and the LG Twins decided to replace their imported players.
As the Kia Tigers' dominant one-two punch of starting pitchers Aquilino Lopez and Rick Guttormson, who combined for 27 wins last season, contributed to the team winning the regular season and the Korean Series, the rest of the league has been doing everything they can to unearth some good hurlers.
Karim Garcia of the Giants and Douglas Clark of the Heroes are the only two position players to have been retained, the lowest number since 1998, when the league started bringing foreign players to Korea.
The Eagles were the first to get the job done.
Right after losing Thomas, who posted a 2-5 record with 13 saves and an ERA of 2.88, the Daejeon-based team inked deals with two former big leaguers, Jose Capellan and Julio DePaula, both of whom are from the Dominican Republic.
Capellan, who played for the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies and the Detroit Tigers, had a 5-7 career record, and DePaula notched just one loss with the Minnesota Twins in 2007.
Giants manager Jerry Royster ― who is from the United States ― picked up Sadowski during the winter meeting.
The right-hander made his big league debut with the San Francisco Giants on June 28 this past season and delivered 16 2/3 scoreless innings on his way to a 2-4 record in six starts.
The Twins brought former Chunichi Dragons reliever Shinya Okamoto to Korea for a tryout last month and have been deliberating on whether to sign him.
The Seoul-based team also dispatched a scout to the United States to find another player.
The Heroes, who didn't re-sign outfielder Cliff Brumbaugh, a five-year veteran of the KBO, are reportedly on the verge of signing a left-handed pitcher.
The Doosan Bears, who were not satisfied with C.J. Nitkowski and Juan Cedeno, are looking for new talent in the Dominican Republic and United States.
Meanwhile, the reigning champion Tigers have re-signed Lopez for $375,000 (433 million won) and are in negotiations with Guttormson.
The Wyverns have brought back Japanese pitcher Ken Kadokura (8-4) and American right-hander Gary Glover (9-3), and the Lions re-signed Brandon Knight of the United States and Dominican Francisco Cruceta.
ksw@koreatimes.co.kr
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