Wednesday, January 27, 2010

2010 Non-Korean Guy Roundup

With the KIA Tigers signing pitcher Ricardo Rodriguez, all 16 available roster spots for non-Korean players were filled. 14 of the 16 players will be pitchers. Hyundai Unicorns/Heroes veteran Cliff Brumbaugh will not be brought back for the 2010 season. Cliff spent 5 of the last 7 seasons in the KBO. He took a 2-year break in 2005-06 to play in the NPB with the Orix Buffaloes.

The KIA Tigers will bring back Aquilino Lopez to lead the rotation again. They've also replaced Rick Guttormson with righty Ricardo Rodriguez.

The SK Wyverns will bring back starting pitchers Ken Kadokura and Gary Glover for the 2010 season.

Doosan will bring in two new foreign pitchers, lefty Les Walrond and righty Kelvin Jiminez. Here's hoping neither of these guys get wasted, fall down a flight of stairs and break vertebrae days before the start of the season.

Lotte is bringing back right fielder/fan favorite Karim Garcia for a 3rd season. Joining Garcia will be right-hander Ryan Sadowski. It's unclear if Sadowski will replace Jon Adkins as closer or join the rotation.

Samsung will return both Brandon Knight and Francisco Cruceta. Knight and Cruceta will follow 14-game winner Yoon Seong-hwan in the rotation.

The Heroes will bring back outfielder Doug Clark for his 2nd season with the Heroes and 3rd KBO season overall. Clark will be joined by Australian national, Adrian Burnside. Burnside spent 2008 and 2009 with the NPB's Yomiuri Giants.

The LG Twins are bringing in 2 new pitchers for 2010. Right-handers Edgar Gonzalez and Shinya Okamoto will join the Twins pitching staff. Gonzalez will probably join the rotation and Okamoto will stabilize the back-end of the bullpen.

The Hanhwa Eagles will need to get innings out of Jose Capellan and Julio DePaula if they want to avoid a historically bad season. Jose's 7.00+ ERA at AAA Round Rock fits right in with their team concept.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would expect Sadowski to start in Korea. He made a couple of respectable starts for the SF Giants last year while Jonathan Sanchez got straightened out.

Christopher said...

The guys over at Baseball America are looking for a site that has Korean stats in English. Got any ideas where that can be found?

Rodney from Pilsen said...

Christopher -

Honestly, the only Korean stat sites that I'm aware of are in Korean. Some of the teams have English language stats, but they're not nearly as comprehensive as the Korean language sites are.

Dan said...

I wish the KBO wasn't such a copy cat league. I'd like to see a few more non-pitchers this season, because not all teams will have KIA's luck.

Stats in English are hard to come by Christopher. If you want a certain players stats etc, feel free to ask me over at mykbo.net.

Matt, how many Lions games are going to this year? season tickets?

Rodney from Pilsen said...

The goal is 30. Last year I struggled to make it to 15, but I almost completed my tour of ballparks in Korea. The only one left is The Heroes. I'll probably get to them this year.

Dan said...

I'm gonna be in Korea in May. I hope to get to some games, pick up some KBO stuff (new Tigers and Bears hats etc).

Mike said...

Cliff has signed with the Campeche de Pirates of the Mexican League for 2010.

I think my Hanwha Eagles will be in last place for 2010.

Anonymous said...

Jose Capellan had a decent season for the Brewers '07 then bitched about his contract and was dealt to Detroit and hasn't been the same since.