“I’m doing my best”
Mexico’s Diablos Rojos del Mexico officially announced on its official website on the 12th (Korea time) that “Lewin Diaz will sign a contract with the KBO League Samsung Lions,” and that “Diaz accepted Samsung’s offer.”
Prior to this season, Samsung ended its business with Jose Pirella and hired David McKinnon, who played for the Seibu Lions in the Japanese professional baseball league, through a contract worth $1 million. McKinnon had 36 home runs, 210 RBIs and a batting average of 0.294 in 357 minor games, and he played in 127 games with Seibu last year, recording 15 home runs, 50 RBIs and a batting average of 0.259.
At that time, Samsung paid attention to McKinnon’s longevity, but he ended up with four homers in 72 games, including one in May and one in June, and he couldn’t draw a single arch, and he was able to pack up after the All-Star Game. Samsung’s choice, which suddenly broke up with McKinnon, was Ruben Cardenas with a total of $477,000.
Cadenas started his professional career in 2018 with the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) uniform as the 493rd overall pick in the 16th round of the Major League Rookie Draft, and has never made the major league stage so far, but he played in 554 games during his six seasons in the minor leagues, recording 555 hits, 99 homers, 362 RBIs, 333 runs and a batting average of 0.272 OPS of 0.834. He has a “one shot” ability to the extent that his slugging percentage has never fallen below 0.450.
Cardenas, who made his debut against the Lotte Giants on the 19th of last month, made two hits (one home run) in six at-bats, including his first arch in the second game, and exploded a come-from-behind walk-off home run against Lotte closer Kim Won-joong in the third game of the series. However, while hitting the KT Wiz match on the 26th of last month, conflict with good Samsung began as he felt pain in his left back. No special problems were found in the hospital examination, but this is why Cardenas continued to complain of pain. 메이저놀이터
As the player complained of discomfort, Samsung gave him 10 days off without being excluded from the first-team entry, and he was put into a real game for the first time in a long time as a pinch hitter against the Hanwha Eagles on the 6th, which was the 11th day of the break. Of course, he asked the player’s intention and put it forward as a pinch hitter. However, a problem arose in the game at the time. Hanwha’s Kim Tae-yeon’s ball headed toward center field, but despite the fact that it could be cut off with a single, he was not able to do his best from Cardenas. It was a so-called “walk defense.”
In the end, coach Park Jin-man said, “Park Jin-man excluded Kadenas and added Kim Heon-gon as a major leaguer, and decided to exclude Kadenas from the first team the next day. Other problems arose in the process. Connor Seabold, who has been close to Kadenas since college, said on social media on Tuesday, “I saw the DM, and I feel so sad and sad that I can’t speak. Kadenas is striving every day to become a good colleague. I am disappointed how he can be treated poorly by those who have supported him until recently. Kadenas is a great person and deserves such treatment,” defending his best friend.
As a result, Samsung seems to be taking a sword. Diaz is likely to wear Samsung’s uniform. A Samsung official also did not deny the rumor that Diaz will be recruited. Diaz was a big league player with the Miami Marlins in 2020, and played in 112 games for three seasons with 58 hits, 13 homers, and a batting average of 0.181 OPS of 0.567. In the minor league, he played 732 games with 715 hits, 119 homers, and a batting average of 0.264 OPS of 0.794, and this year, he played in 75 games in the Mexican league, recording 52 hits, 19 homers, and a batting average of 0.376 OPS of 1.099.
It is very likely that Diaz will wear Samsung’s uniform, but it is not without “variables” at this point. This is because according to the KBO rules, only players who joined by Aug. 15 can advance to the postseason. Currently, Samsung is pushing for a visa issuance without officially announcing the recruitment of Diaz. Aug. 15 is a national holiday for Gwangbokjeol, but if only the visa issuance goes ahead normally, KBO’s “approval” will not be a problem, but the key is whether the visa issuance process can be completed before Aug. 15.
Once the visa is completed, there will be no stumbling block. The replacement should be made official through a decision. However, if Diaz finds it difficult to get a visa, it could be quite ambiguous. There are two choices. They have to choose between “finishing the game” with Cardenas for the postseason and replacing foreign players with Diaz even if they give up playing in the fall baseball. “There is a way to recruit Diaz regardless of waiting for Cardenas to recover from his injury,” Lee Jong-yeol, the general manager, said, but declined to comment, “Don’t we have time yet?”
Still, the first possibility does not seem to be high. Cardenas is already blinded by the coaching staff due to the “work ceremony” issue. “There is no guarantee that he will enter the top five competition given the current competition in the rankings,” said Lee Jong-yeol, head of the team. According to a Samsung official, Diaz is already moving on a plane to get a visa. However, as time is required for administrative procedures, we cannot be certain about the situation. Lee Jong-yeol, head of the team, said he is doing his best. Will Samsung be able to complete all the procedures before the deadline.
