Rumors And Truth About Foreign Mound’s ‘Big Name’ Buchanan And Alcantara Contract
One common voice among Korean officials who came to the Major League’s winter meeting early this month is that each club is in an environment where it is difficult to secure Debs because there are fewer players in the U.S. than before. Basically, there is a market that is more in demand than in supply. KBO League teams, which have to make up foreign players through the U.S. market, are also engaged in recruitment campaigns without having as many options as before.
Recently, there have been rumors among club officials that negotiations on the remaining of Samsung’s David Buchanan (34) and Doosan’s Raul Alcantara (31), who are “big name” foreign pitchers in the KBO League, are not going well. As the player famine in the U.S. market continued, it was also said that they all received a good offer from the U.S. team.
Officials at the entire league are paying attention to their presence. If these two players do not stay, it will have a huge impact on the overall league landscape as well as the composition of the two teams’ power next year. Alcantara ranked fourth overall with a WAR of 5.51 among the pitchers in the 2023 season. Buchanan was ranked sixth overall with a WAR of 5.10. They are names that constitute “strength” for his team and “weight” for other teams.
Some outside officials mention these players and put up question marks over whether they will stay or not. Eric Peddy, this season’s MVP, left the NC Dinosaurs and joined the Chicago White Sox for a total of 15 million U.S. dollars for two years, which could have shaken the hearts of foreign pitchers of various teams.
Inside the two clubs, however, they are confident of renewing their contracts. They are optimistic that the contract will be completed at an appropriate time as negotiations speed up.
A Samsung official said on the 19th, “There was a difference, but it has narrowed down a lot.” He predicted a contract at a level that everyone could understand. A Doosan official also said, “Foreign pitchers who are still recruiting foreign hitters are going to Alcantara and Brandon Waddell. There will be no variables in the composition of foreign pitchers.”
The KBO League is a single league system of 10 teams. Therefore, everyone is always interested in whether foreign pitchers with proven performance will remain.
Another big issue was Pedi’s departure from NC. Due to Pedi’s departure, NC had to deal with big homework, and nine other teams eased their worries. For example, Pedi had four wins and losses with an ERA of 1.42 in five games (31.2 innings) against Hanwha this year alone. In addition, he pitched only 18 innings in three games against Doosan, but overwhelmingly scored a WHIP (per-inning on-base permit) of 0.56 and a hit rate of 98. For the two teams, it was worthwhile for Pedi to go to the U.S. to slightly increase the psychological multiplier of next season.
Regarding Buchanan and Alcantara, officials of the two clubs do not think about the possibility of leaving the club. Buchanan is expected to have his fifth season in the KBO League and his fourth season in Alcantara.