Professional baseball player Mel Rojas Jr. (35) of the KT Wiz bid farewell to William Cuevas (35), who is leaving the team.

KT announced on the 11th that it has signed Patrick Murphy as a replacement pitcher for William Cuevas, with an annual salary of $277,000 (approximately 400 million won). With KT bringing in a new foreign pitcher, Cuevas, who was one of the long-serving foreign pitchers representing the KBO League, is set to leave the team.

Cuevas, who joined KT in 2019, has recorded a total of 149 games (872⅓ innings) with 55 wins, 45 losses, and an earned run average of 3.93 over 7 seasons until this year. He performed well during the regular season, but Cuevas's true value was shown in crucial games. He excelled in the postseason, with a total of 8 games (41⅓ innings), achieving 4 wins, 1 loss, and an earned run average of 2.83, and in the first-place deciding game in 2021, he pitched 7 innings with only 1 hit allowed, 8 strikeouts, and no earned runs after 2 days of rest.

The breakup with Cuevas, who has long contributed to KT and led them to their first championship, is sad news not only for the fans but also for his teammates. Rojas, who has been with KT for six seasons (2017-2020, 2024-2025) and won MVP after hitting 47 home runs in 2020, also couldn't hide his disappointment at the news of Cuevas leaving the team.

In an interview on the 9th, Rojas said, "I think Cuevas is really a good player and teammate. This year, since the performance has not been good, I was worried that a change could happen. Still, I felt that we would continue to be together, so hearing that he is being replaced is disappointing."

Rojas, lamenting the split with Cuevas, noted, "In the world of professional sports, performance speaks for itself. I think it is something to accept," while adding, "In my view, Cuevas is a really good pitcher. He has enough qualities to dominate the league in Korea. However, as a professional player goes through many seasons, there are seasons that do not go well, and I think this is that season."

Rojas emphasized that "Despite it being a tough season, Cuevas tried his best to compete every game against opposing pitchers and batters," adding, "He accepted the results himself. In my view, Cuevas is the best pitcher and the best teammate." He went on to say, "In fact, the decision was made somewhat suddenly, so there wasn’t much time to talk. I think there will be more opportunity to have a calm conversation before leaving for Korea."

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