As a New Year’s gift, not Christmas? KIA’s foreign right-hander is about to reveal one-two punch. “Medical tests are just around the corner.”

KIA Tigers’ new foreign pitcher duo will approach KIA fans as a New Year’s gift, not Christmas. The 2024 Tigers’ right-hander one-two punch ahead of the medical test is imminent. 안전놀이터 추천

Kia has included Socrates Brito, an existing foreign hitter, and Thomas Panoni, a foreign pitcher, on its pending roster for the 2024 season. Mario Sanchez, who was acquired from the Taiwan League in the middle of the season, has been excluded from the pending roster.

Basically, Kia was searching for a foreign player market based on replacement of both foreign pitchers. After the winter meeting of the Major League held in the first week of December, it decided on specific candidates and proposed a contract. renewing contract with Panoni was not a top priority.

First of all, the news of Socrates’ contract renewal came out. On Dec. 18, Kia officially announced its renewal of the contract with Socrates for a total of 1.2 million dollars (300,000 down payment, 500,000 annual salary, and 400,000 dollars option). “I am happy to be with the Kia Tigers next year as well,” Socrates said, adding, “I want to prepare well for next year’s season with my teammates and give the Tigers fans a victory.”

KIA, which took a breather from Socrates’ contract renewal, focused on recruiting a new foreign pitcher, one-two punch. In the process, Panoni eventually chose to return to the U.S. stage. In fact, Panoni signed a split contract with the Chicago Cubs, judging that it is not easy to renew a contract with KIA.

Panoni had three wins and four losses in 14 appearances (82.2 innings) in the 2022 season, an earned run average of 2.72 73 strikeouts and 24 walks, and an earned run average of 4.26 66 strikeouts and 23 walks in 16 appearances (82.1 innings) in the 2023 season. Panoni, who is facing the limit of his ball speed, has not received a renewal offer for the second consecutive year.

However, Kia did not suffer much as it pushed the renewal of its contract with Panoni to the subordinate ranks. Considering that the native starters are three left-handers (Yang Hyun-jong, Yi Eui-ri, and Yoon Young-chul), KIA looked for all foreign pitching duo as right-hander resources. Recently, two right-handers are known to be close to signing contracts. However, since the medical testing process has not yet been completed, the timing of the official announcement has been delayed.

“The timing of the announcement has been delayed as we have repeatedly been cautious about finding foreign pitchers. Now, the search for foreign pitchers is over and the contract phase is imminent. Both new pitchers are right-handed. However, it is not easy to proceed with medical tests in the U.S. as the country is nearing the end of the year. If we get a definite result, we will make an official announcement en masse. There is a high possibility that the official announcement will pass the year,” an official from Kia said.

In an unfavorable foreign market atmosphere, most clubs in the KBO League have mainly chosen to renew contracts with existing foreign players. However, KIA has boldly decided to break up with all existing foreign pitchers and seek a new foreign pitcher duo. I wonder what the two new foreign pitchers of KIA, who are about to be announced, will look like.