“The atmosphere wasn’t like that when we had the interview after the season in Korea and before we went to the U.S. I definitely wanted to come back to Korea.”
The NC Dinos had to swallow their tears because of the leak of foreign ace pitchers for the third consecutive year. Starting with sending Drew Luchinski (36) to the U.S. Major League Baseball after the 2022 season, Eric Peddy (31), St. Louis Cardinals), and Kyle Hart (32) could not resist the decision of players to return to the U.S. For the third consecutive year, the NC Dinosaurs announced on Monday a deal worth 1 million U.S. dollars with new foreign pitcher Logan Allen (27) to break up with Hart.
It was all the more painful for NC because all three players reigned as the best aces in the KBO League. Luchinski was also a rich foreign player who won 53 games while taking charge of 732 ⅔ innings for four years from 2019 to 2022. As Luchinski declared his challenge to the U.S., Pedi, who was newly hired last season, had a spectacular year than anyone else. He played 20-6 with 180 ⅓ innings, 209 strikeouts, and an ERA of 2.00 in 30 games, sweeping the regular season MVP and pitcher Golden Glove. Pedi naturally received great attention from Major League teams and left Korea when he signed with the Chicago White Sox. Hart was awarded the Golden Glove for pitchers this year with 26 games, 13-3 with 157 innings, 182 strikeouts, and an ERA of 2.69, following Pedi.
Hart did not consider returning to the U.S. from the beginning. Lim Sun-nam, NC’s general manager, said, “We had a meeting before Hart went to the U.S. after finishing the season in Korea. At that time, I definitely wanted to come back to Korea, and I also wanted to come back to the Dinos. In that regard, we also thought very positively.”
Hearts’ temperature has changed since he went to the U.S. Lim said, “After returning to the U.S., Hearts can return to the Major League, and many U.S. websites and media outlets have reported that it will be possible for him to sign a three-year contract, which makes me think that the expectation of the player has suddenly increased. Since then, he has become passive in talking to us.”
At present, it has not been reported that Hart has signed a contract with a U.S. Major League club. However, rumors say that the team has received attention from multiple teams at the recent Major League Winter Meeting. As it was reported that Jarrod Young (29) and Brandon Waddell (30) who played for the Doosan Bears signed contracts with the New York Mets at the same time on Wednesday, Hart could have a good chance. Jarrod was not treated well with the Major League Split contract and Brandon with the Minor League contract, but he successfully returned to the Major League anyway.
“It is unclear to us whether Hart was offered an offer by a Major League club. It has been confirmed that he met several teams at the winter meeting. In any case, we regret that he will continue to seek to return to the Major League under this atmosphere, but we have decided to respect what Hart has in mind,” Lim said.
NC boasts a good foreign pitcher trail every year, but it is also true that it feels tired from repeated leaks every year.
“Actually, I feel a lot of pressure,” Lim said. “Fortunately, the new players have been doing well so far, but it is actually very difficult to replace a player who rides the Golden Glove every year, which gives me a lot of pressure. However, we can’t expect them to stop us from going to the U.S., so even if we are agonizing over it at the end of the year, we expect new players to be as good as the players in the future.”
The NC Dinosaurs set up a new one-two punch this year with left-hander Logan and right-hander Riley Thompson (28). The foreign hitter renewed his contract with Matt Davidson (33), who won the title with 46 home runs this year, for 1.5 million U.S. dollars. 메이저놀이터
Logan is expected to replace Hart as the new ace. Logan started his professional career by being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the eighth round in 2015 and played for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians, Baltimore Orioles, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Logan recorded 5-11 with 124 ⅓ innings and 5.79 ERA in 45 Major League games (15 starts). In the Minor League, he recorded 45-35 with 740 ⅔ innings and 4.50 ERA in 191 games (134 starts). Riley is a former promising Chicago Cubs player who has no major league experience, which puts more weight on Logan.
“Rogan is a left-hander, but he is similar to Hearts in terms of speed. He throws a wide variety of pitches (splitter, curveball, sweeper, slider and change-up), and he can throw almost all of them in the strike zone due to his good ball control. I see him as a player who can compete with batters in various ways,” Lim said, hoping to continue the race of NC`s ace pitcher.
