The LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization are bringing back right-hander Elieser Hernández and first baseman Austin Dean for 2025. Per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (X link), Hernández will make $1.3MM while Dean will get $1.7MM.
Hernández, 30 in May, was a midseason replacement for the Twins. Once a potential rotation building block with the Marlins, he missed significant time due to injuries, including the entire 2023 season. He returned in 2024 to get limited looks with the Dodgers and Brewers before heading overseas to join the Twins in late July.
He went on to log 47 innings for them over 11 appearances, including nine starts. He allowed 4.02 earned runs per nine with a 28.2% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 51.2% ground ball rate. Yoo adds that Hernandez also tossed 11 scoreless innings in the postseason. The club clearly liked what they saw and will bring Hernández back for another season.
For Dean, 31, this will be his third season as a Twin. He played in parts of five MLB seasons from 2018 to 2022 but never got more than a part-time role. He has found a regular gig in Korea and has made the most of it. He hit 23 home runs last year and slashed .313/.376/.515, then followed that up with 32 home runs and a .319/.384/.573 line in 2024.
The MLB minimum salary is going to be $760K next year, so both players have gotten themselves up into a higher level of earning power, and likely with some extra job security as well. For the Twins, they also signed right-hander Yonny Chirinos this week, so this fills their quota of foreign-born players. Each KBO team is allowed three such players, with a maximum of two pitchers.
