Felix Peña, 33, will join the Hanwha Eagles next year as well. The Hanwha Eagles renewed their contract with Peña, a foreign pitcher, on Wednesday. The deal is worth up to 1.05 million U.S. dollars, including 200,000 dollars in down payment, 650,000 dollars in annual salary, and 200,000 dollars in incentives. Peña is in his third year in the KBO league this year, and despite his stable performance enough to renew his contract, he signed the seal at the maximum of just over 1 million dollars given to new foreign players in the KBO.
Peña first became acquainted with the Hanwha Eagles as a substitute for Nick Kingham, who was released last year. As he joined the team during the season, the Hanwha Eagles awarded Peña 500,000 U.S. dollars. Peña had five wins and four losses, 67 ⅔ innings, 72 strikeouts, and an ERA of 3.72 in 13 games that year. The Hanwha Eagles decided once again that they displayed enough performance to trust, and renewed the contract this year by raising 350,000 dollars to 850,000 dollars.
When Hanwha was troubled by Birch Smith earlier this season, Peña silently took the center stage of the starting lineup as a real ace. Hanwha invested $1 million in Smith and expected the ace's mission, but he couldn't take the mound due to injuries after pitching in the second ⅔ of the opening game. Peña was holding out, and Young Gun Moon Dong-ju spent the rookie of the year season, preventing the starting lineup from collapsing.
Peña started 32 games this year, recording 11 wins and 11 losses, 177 ⅓ innings, 147 strikeouts and a 3.60 ERA. He is the only player in his team who pitched 30 games and 170 innings or more, and this is a figure that can be achieved only when he stays in rotation throughout the entire season. He also ranked sixth in the most innings, tied for ninth in multiple wins, tied for sixth in strikeouts, and 14th in ERA.
It is not a stellar performance, but it is valuable for pitchers who constantly and stably maintain the mound. Peña ranked sixth in the league with 19 quality starts this year. He displayed the highest level of stability in the league, with only three shots ahead of top-ranked Raul Alcantara (22) of Doosan Bears. Nevertheless, he chose to stay at 1.05 million U.S. dollars, which is a blessing for Hanwha.
Hanwha ranked 9th this year with 58 wins, 80 losses, and 6 draws with 0.420. Although it is on the verge of continuing its disgraceful record of being the lowest for three consecutive years from 2020 to last year, ninth place is certainly a difficult ranking to be satisfied with. Even if all factors are important overall, in the end, a team with a strong starting lineup will go to the fall baseball. In that sense, Peña is expected to be a strong support for Hanwha to rise to the top five.
Peña is also a big influence on young pitchers. This year, he taught Moon his main weapon, change-up drawing, helping him grow into the ace of the national team. Peña gets along well with his teammates and has a positive influence on the team.
After signing the contract, Peña said, "I am very happy to sign the contract. Once again, I would like to thank Hanwha for giving me the opportunity to play in Korea. I hope to prepare well for the offseason and help my team advance to the postseason in a healthy state next season." 토토사이트
Hanwha is speeding up the formation of foreign players by acquiring Peña for $1.05 million and Jonada Peraza for $1 million. A foreign pitcher is empty, but Ricardo Sanchez, the existing pitcher, is on hold for now. When a better pitcher is released in the market within the time the team thinks, it is drawing a picture of holding hands with a new face or accompanying Sanchez.
As Hanwha aims to advance to the post season next season, it is important to form a one-two punch for foreigners who will lead the starting lineup along with Peña. Since there are many variables in the Korean starting lineup other than Moon Dong-ju, the Korean team should be solid as well as foreign pitchers. For now, the team put out the urgent fire by catching Peña who can win 30 games to 10 games or more. Attention is focusing on whether Peña will be able to continue its reputation as a strong foreign player next season.
