The Samsung Lions of the KBO professional baseball team are pursuing the recruitment of a new foreign hitter with two days left until the August 15th player registration deadline.
The most promising candidate at present is the left-handed batter Lewin Diaz (27) from the Dominican Republic. He joined the Miami Marlins in 2020 and played for them for about three seasons before currently playing as a first baseman in the Mexican League.
His career major league record is 112 games, batting average .181, 13 home runs, OPS .567, which is not a great performance, but he has a good physique and is evaluated as not bad as a power tool.
On the 10th of last month, the Samsung Lions released David MacKinnon (29), who had not performed as well as expected, and signed Ruben Cardenas (26) as a replacement foreign hitter this year, paying a signing bonus of $477,000 and an additional transfer fee of $50,000.
Cardenas, who had an ideal debut by hitting a home run in the game against the Lotte Giants held at Daegu-Samsung Lions Park on the 19th of last month, was embroiled in a controversy over slacking off after showing complacent play (aka ‘walking defense’) in just his sixth appearance.
Although he complained of back pain, the hospital examination showed no abnormalities, and as he was unable to continue participating in training, it has been reported that opinions within the team were gathered to replace the foreign hitter in preparation for the post-season.
The Samsung Lions are currently in third place in the league and are in a fierce competition for the top spot, so they made a bold move to replace a foreign hitter two days before the roster registration for the postseason.
If Samsung’s acquisition of Lewin Diaz is successful within the deadline, Cárdenas will pack his bags and leave the team.
Diaz’s official signing announcement was expected to be significantly delayed due to visa issues, but he quickly obtained his visa at the Korean Embassy in Mexico today, the 13th, and boarded a plane to Korea. He is expected to undergo a medical test in Korea tomorrow, the 14th, and sign a contract right away.
