The Korea Baseball Organization's Kiwoom Heroes will acquire Raúl Alcántara (33), who recorded 20 wins in 2020.

Kiwoom started the season with two foreign hitters, surprising everyone. Yasiel Puig, who led the team to the runner-up position in the 2022 Korean Series, has returned, and they also brought in Rubén Cardines, who played briefly for Samsung last season. They have drawn up a blueprint to enhance the offensive power of a batting lineup that was at the bottom of the league in scoring last season.

In the early season, it seemed things were going according to Kiwoom's plan. Both Puig and Cardines showed strong performances, and other hitters also displayed hot batting skills, leading to a four-game winning streak from March 26 to 29 and climbing to a tie for second place in the league.

However, as Puig's and Cardines' batting senses began to decline, problems started to emerge. The batting lineup fell into a slump. Ultimately, the runs per game remain at the bottom of the league this year (3.67). To make matters worse, the highly anticipated left-handed pitcher Jeong Hyun-woo, the No. 1 draft pick this year, has also left the roster due to a shoulder injury, further shaking the starting rotation, which only has foreign pitcher Kenny Rosenberg available. Apart from Rosenberg and Ha Young-min, there are no pitchers they can reliably count on, and the team's starting average earned run average is an overwhelming last place in the league (5.65).

Faced with a dilemma, Kiwoom decided to acquire another foreign pitcher. Raúl Alcántara, who has extensive KBO League experience, has come into Kiwoom's acquisition plan. Alcántara has recorded a career total of 101 games (627⅔ innings) with 46 wins and 24 losses and an earned run average of 3.21. In 2020, while playing for Doosan, he shined in 31 games (198⅔ innings) with 20 wins, 2 losses, and an earned run average of 2.54, earning the Golden Glove for pitching. Thanks to this performance, he also advanced to Nippon Professional Baseball (Hanshin).

Last season, Alcántara played 12 games (64⅓ innings) for Doosan, recording 2 wins, 2 losses, and an earned run average of 4.76 before departing from the team due to injury. This year, he has played in the Mexican League, recording 1 loss in 5 games (21⅓ innings) with an earned run average of 7.17. Although his current performance is not good, Kiwoom is confident, stating, "We confirmed that his velocity is not significantly different from when he performed well," indicating that they believe Alcántara's skills can still hold up in the KBO League.

If Alcántara joins, one of either Puig or Cardines will have to leave the team. Puig has a batting average of .212 (33 hits in 156 at-bats) with 6 home runs, 20 RBIs, 17 runs, and an OPS of .625 in 40 games, while Cardines has a batting average of .224 (33 hits in 147 at-bats) with 4 home runs, 23 RBIs, 19 runs, 1 stolen base, and an OPS of .695 in 42 games. Since both players have similar statistics, it is a challenging situation for Kiwoom to make a replacement decision.

Kiwoom has decided to acquire Alcántara but has yet to determine which of Puig or Cardines to replace, so the contract has not been finalized. The ambitious strategy of having two foreign hitters ultimately returns to failure, and fans are keenly watching to see who will leave Korea.

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