Doosan Bears are fifth KBO team to reach foreign player max

The Doosan Bears renewed contracts for foreign pitchers Raul Alcantara and Brandon Waddell and recruited hitter Henry Ramos, the team announced in a press release Thursday, becoming the fifth KBO team to reach their foreign player maximum.

Doosan Bears starter Brandon Waddell pitches during a game against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul in July. [NEWS1]

The Doosan Bears are bringing back foreign pitchers Raul Alcantara and Brandon Waddell and adding hitter Henry Ramos, the team announced in a press release Thursday, becoming the fifth KBO team to reach their foreign player maximum ahead of the 2024 season.

The Bears follow the LG Twins, the KT Wiz, the SSG Landers and the Lotte Giants in filling up their foreign player spots. KBO teams can sign up to three foreign players per year.

Alcantara, 31, signed a deal worth up to $1.5 million with a guaranteed salary of $800,000, a $500,000 signing bonus and up to $200,000 in incentives.

The right-hander recorded a 2.67 ERA over 13 wins and nine losses over the 2023 season, his first year back with the Bears after a brief stint with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan’s Nippon Baseball League beginning in 2021.

The Dominican pitcher made his KBO debut with the Wiz in 2019 but signed with the Bears for the 2020 season when he went on to win the Choi Dong-won award as the best starting pitcher in the KBO.

Left-handed pitcher Waddell will return to the Bears for his third-straight season on a deal worth up to $1.13 million with a guaranteed salary of $750,000, a $250,000 signing bonus and up to $130,000 in incentives.

He has a career 2.92 ERA over two years in the KBO, recording 16 wins and six losses. Waddell was on the mound for the Bears as they faced the NC Dinos in this year’s postseason wild card round.

Ramos, 31, heads into his first year with the Bears on a deal worth up to $700,000 with a guaranteed salary of $550,000, a $50,000 signing bonus and up to $100,000 in incentives — in a homecoming to the KBO.

Ramos played for the Wiz in 2022, batting an average .250 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 18 games before the Wiz released him due to an injury. He comes back to Korea fresh off a stint in the Minors and the Majors, making appearances for the Cincinnati Reds and its Triple-A affiliate in 2023.

Ramos is “capable of swinging powerfully from both the left and right at-bats, and has a strong arm and a good eye for the ball,” the Bears said in the Thursday press release.

The Samsung Lions, the Kiwoom Heroes and the Hanwha Eagles have yet to reach their foreign player limits as of press time Thursday.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]