Puig returns to Kiwoom after 3 years... Expect a two-hitter with Ryu Hyun-jin
Puig returns to Kiwoom after 3 years... Expect a two-hitter with Ryu Hyun-jin
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Yasiel Puig, 33, is expected to return to the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization in the 2025 season.
According to baseball circles on Friday, Kiwoom offered Puig, who recently played in the Venezuelan Winter League, a contract to join the team, and Puig reportedly responded in the affirmative.
Foreign media also reported Puig's move to Korea.
“Puig will return to the Korean Professional Baseball Organization in the 2025 season,” ESPN reported on Feb. 15 (KST), ”leaving his Venezuelan Winter League team, Tiburones de la Duaira, at Kiwoom's request.”
Kiwoom, for his part, said, “It's not finalized.”
“We have been in contact with Puig, but Puig told us that he has received offers from (other) Asian teams,” Kiwoom president Ko Hyung-wook told Yonhap News Agency.
“It's true that Puig is on our shortlist, 카지노사이트 but we haven't finalized it,” he added.
Puig was a star player in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2013 to 2019.
He was unable to find a team after the 2019 season due to personal issues before surprisingly signing with the Kiwis for the 2022 season.
Puig hit .277 with 21 home runs and 73 RBIs in 126 games that year, helping the team reach the Korean Series.
The relationship between Kiwoom and Puig was short-lived.
Puig was under investigation in the United States for allegedly investing in illegal sports betting after the 2022 season, and Kiwoom opted out of his contract.
Puig went on to play in the Venezuelan Winter League.
Kiwoom reportedly believed that Puig's alleged illegal sports betting investments and perjury charges in the US federal court had been resolved.
When Puig returns to the KBO, he will likely be paired with Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha Eagles), a former member of the MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ryu and Puig were close friends while playing together for the Dodgers from 2013 to 2018, and their reunion in February 2022 in Korea drew much media attention.