The team that finished the foreign lineup for 75% of the KBO home run king's ransom...Grades don't come in the order of salary, right? The best, the best, new faces
The team that finished the foreign lineup for 75% of the KBO home run king's ransom...Grades don't come in the order of salary, right? The best, the best, new faces
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Ten KBO League teams have completed the formation of foreign players in the 2025 season with the recruitment of Patrick Wisdom by the KIA Tigers on the 26th. Less than a month is left until the start of the spring camp.
Thirty foreign players have been confirmed to welcome the opening of the 2025 season. Thirteen of the 30 players renewed their contracts with their teams this season and will meet their fans next year as well. The three players will move to different teams to continue their KBO League careers. One will make a comeback in the KBO League after three years. A total of 17 experienced players have worked in the KBO.
Among 17 players, Matt Davidson is the home run king. He is the first foreign player in the KBO to sign a multi-year contract. He will receive up to 1.5 million U.S. dollars next year and up to 1.7 million dollars in 2026 season. In contrast, some Samsung Diaz, LG Hernandez and Kiwoom Cardinnes joined the team in the middle of this season, and are set to play full-time in the first season.
▲2025 Foreign player contract status of 10 KBO teams (USD)
KIA (2.8 million) James Nail 1.8 million / Adam Aller 1 million / Patrick Wisdom 1 million
Samsung (3 million) Denny Reyes 1.2 million / Ariel Furado 1 million / Lewin Diaz 800,000
LG (4 million) Austin Dean 1.7 million / Elijah Hernandez 1.3 million / Yonny Chirinos 1 million
KT (4.3 million) Mel Rojas Jr. 1.8 million / William Cuevas 1.5 million / Enmanuel de Heissus 1 million
Doosan (3 million) Col Irvin 1 million / Thomas Hatch 1 million / Jake Cave 1 million
SSG (4 million) Guillermo Herredia 1.8 million / Drew Anderson 1.2 million / Mitch White 1 million
Lotte (3.7 million) Charlie Barnes 1.5 million / Victor Reyes 1.25 million / Tucker Davidson 950,000
Hanwha (2.8 million) Coordination Ponce 1 million / Ryan Weiss 950,000 / Esteban Floral 850,000
NC (3.4 million) Matt Davidson 3.2 million (1+1) / Logan Allen 1 million / Riley Thompson 900,000
Kiwoom (2.4 million) Yasiel Puig 1 million / Kenny Rosenberg 800,000 / Ruben Cadines 600,000
The player who will play in the 2025 season for the smallest amount of money is Cardinnes, who will pay 600,000 dollars. Cardinnes' low salary is notable given that eight of the new foreign players have filled up 1 million dollars, except for cases where he has moved a team or returned from a hiatus.
At this point, the clubs have shown that the old officer is a famous officer, but according to the industry, there are many evaluations that the players who will join the KBO League next year are very good. As we will know only by opening the lid, there are quite a few players who are expected to show their skills without difficulty at this point.
A representative player is Wisdom, who has 88 home runs in the Major League. The extreme ball count is a disadvantage, but looking at this record, there were many weaknesses in fastballs than breaking balls. Therefore, KIA expects Wisdom to adapt without difficulty in the KBO League, where pitchers' average speed is lower than that of the Major League.
Among pitchers, LG Chirinos, Doosan Irvin and Hatch, and SSG White are drawing keen attention. "Foreign pitchers are good," KIA manager Lee Bum-ho said, even though Doosan's reinforcement of its strength was not clear. Hatch was the bullpen session for Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha Eagles) during the Toronto Blue Jays, and White is also famous for his nickname "Park Chan-ho Doppelganger" as he is a Korean-American.
KT, which invested the most money in foreigners during the 2025 season, is the team that paid 4.3 million U.S. dollars. It starts with a trio of proven players named Rojas, Cuevas, and Heyesus. As for Rojas and Cuevas, they already had five or six seasons of KBO league experience. LG and SSG will follow with 4 million dollars.
The club that spent the least amount of money on foreigners is Kiwoom next year following this year. The total investments in Puig, Rosenberg and Cardinez amounted to 2.4 million dollars. This is exactly four-thirds of Davidson's two-year ransom. Hanwha also spent 2.8 million dollars.
However, it is very likely that annual salary is not in order of performance. It is not difficult to see if you look at the history of foreign players in all professional sports in Korea. Kiwoom is famous for selecting good cost-effective foreign players. On the other hand, foreign players who receive a lot of money must pay for their names to gain momentum in the league's box office.
It depends on each individual's preference, but it sounds like foreign players prefer the KBO League to Japan these days. In Japan, foreigners are allowed to own unlimited number of players. However, the number of players in the first division is limited to five. As a result, there is infinite competition among foreigners as well. It is encouraging for the healthy development of the league. However, it can be considered that the employment environment is unstable compared to Korea, which unconditionally uses first or second starters and is a central hitter.
Eventually, 스포츠토토 an increasing number of Japanese players are preferring Korea, which allows them to secure statistics even if they receive more money. Based on this, more and more Korean players are exporting back to the Major League from the KBO rather than those who are exporting back to the Major League in recent years. How many of the 30 players who will join Korea next year have no dream of exporting back to the Major League? KBO league teams should make good use of them.