Hanwha, which spent 4.8 billion won on five foreigners and collapsed, will Peña-Sanchez-Peraza succeed

Hanwha started this season with Smith, O'Greddie, and Peña as foreign players. Smith, who played for Seibu in the Japanese pro baseball last year, signed a one million dollar contract down payment of 100,000 dollars, annual salary of 700,000 dollars, and incentive of 200,000 dollars. O'Greddie, who boasts of strong slugging capability, had high expectations as he performed better than Samsung's Pirella in Japan. O'Greddie signed a 900,000 dollar contract annual salary of 700,000 dollars and incentive of 200,000 dollars. Peña joined the team as a substitute in 2022 and successfully renewed his contract up to 850,000 dollars.

However, it was a nightmare for Smith and O'Greddie. Smith pitched 155 kilometers of fastballs, but had many injury history in the Major League and Japan, and allowed two runs during two ⅔ innings. Smith threw 60 pitches and voluntarily stepped down due to his shoulder injury, and one game was over. Unable to wait for long rehabilitation time, the Hanwha Eagles quickly hired a substitute Sanchez.

O'Greddie, who was expected to be a slugger, was also miserable. O'Greddie was kicked out in mid-May after batting .15 with eight RBIs and 40 homers. He went down to the second division and had time to readjust, but failed to show a rebound.

After Smith and O'Gregdy were kicked out, Hanwha recruited left-hander Sanchez 400,000 dollars as a foreign pitcher and Williams 450,000 dollars as a foreign hitter. With a batting average of 244, Williams failed to meet expectations as a foreign hitter.

Hanwha has decided to renew its contract with foreign pitchers Peña and Sanchez, who have played until the end of this season. Peña renewed his contract for up to 1.05 million U.S. dollars down payment of 200,000 dollars, annual salary of 650,000 dollars, and incentive of 200,000 dollars. The guaranteed amount has increased by 200,000 dollars from this year.

Peña has been consistent with his three-point ERA both in 2022 and this year when he joined as a substitute. Peña, who won five games and lost four games with a 3.72 ERA in 13 games 67 ⅔ innings in 2022, played 32 games 177 ⅓ innings this year, recording 11 wins and 11 losses with a 3.60 ERA and 147 strikeouts.

Peña has displayed steady performance. He was sixth in innings and 19 quality starts in the league. He also tied for sixth in strikeouts. Hanwha had many losses due to its weak performance. If he had played for a top-ranked team with good batting performance and stable defense, his personal performance would have been much better. Peña will become the second foreign pitcher to play for three seasons, following Batista who played for the Hanwha Eagles from 2011 to 2013.

The Hanwha Eagles will renew his contract with Sanchez on Tuesday. Sanchez signed a contract worth up to 750,000 U.S. dollars down payment of 100,000 dollars, annual salary of 500,000 dollars, and incentive of 150,000 dollars. Sanchez joined the Hanwha Eagles as a substitute for Smith for an annual salary of 400,000 dollars at the end of April, and pitched in 24 games 126 innings with 7-8 losses and an ERA of 3.79.

It was quite impressive at first. Sanchez was an active player with five wins and no loss with a 1.48 ERA in his first nine games. However, he was sluggish with two wins and eight losses and a 5.24 ERA in the next 15 games. Hanwha looked for a new foreign pitcher after the season, but couldn't find a better alternative and renewed his contract with Sanchez. The team was sluggish as its monotonous pitching pattern was identified by analysis by the opposing team, which should be supplemented to show a better performance.

Hanwha explained the background of the renewal, saying, "While striking out 99, he only gave up 28 walks, and showed off his stable control, with the strikeout/walk ratio ranking eighth in the league 3.54 among pitchers who pitched more than 100 innings."

After renewing his contract, Sanchez said, "I'm happy to continue my relationship with the Hanwha Eagles. I'm already excited to meet Eagles fans in Daejeon again," adding, "I'll take advantage of my strengths that I've shown throughout this season and make up for my shortcomings to show a better performance next season."

O'Greddie and Williams failed one after another, but they signed Ferraza, 25, a mid-20s player, for a total of 1 million dollars down payment of 200,000 dollars, annual salary of 600,000 dollars, option of 200,000 dollars. One million dollars is the cap on a new foreign player.

Peraza, a switch-hitter, has no experience in the Major League but is a young player who has shown steady growth in the Minor League. He played 121 games for Triple-A Iowa under the Chicago Cubs, posting a batting average of 284 percent 131 hits in 461 at-bats, 23 homers, 85 RBIs, 100 runs scored, 76 walks, 119 strikeouts, 13 steals, an on-base percentage of .389, a slugging percentage of .534, and an OPS of .922.

With his small but sturdy physique 175 centimeters, 88 kilograms, he produces line drive balls with strong wrist strength and fast bat speed. He has strength in hitting, including contact ability, pioneering eye, and slugging ability. Along with Noh Si-hwan, the home run king, and Chae Eun-seong, the 9 billionth FA, he should cheer up at the centerline.

Hanwha has young players such as Roh Si-hwan and Moon Dong-ju growing up. If three foreign players perform well, expectations can rise from the middle-ranked competition to the top-five competition.
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