I love you in Korea…Who knew that only 100 million foreigners in the independent league would become Hanwha's all-time pitcher
Nov 01, 2025
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Hayley Brook Weiss, wife of Hanwha Eagles foreign pitcher Ryan Weiss, left this comment on her SNS after the end of last season. I was satisfied with my life in Korea, but it was a country that changed my husband Weiss' baseball life 180 degrees, so I deserved to fall in love.
Weiss joined Hanwha as a substitute for Ricardo Sanchez, who left in June last year due to an elbow injury. It was a six-week contract period and a total of $100,000 (about 100 million won). Hanwha's foreign scout team discovered Weiss, who had been continuing his career in the U.S. independent league after passing through the U.S. Minor League and the Taiwan Professional Baseball (CPBL).
Weiss pitched more than expected as an alternative foreigner and succeeded in signing a formal contract as soon as the six-week contract ended. The condition was to receive a total of 260,000 dollars (about 300 million won) for the rest of the season. Although they were together for only half of the season, a total of $360,000 (about 400 million won) was a very cheap amount.
Weiss went 5-5 with 91 ⅔ innings, 98 strikeouts and a 3.73 ERA in 16 games last season. He used various breaking balls, including sweeper, on fastballs exceeding 150 kilometers per hour, and pitched using his 1m93 height also made the opponent difficult.
Hanwha had no reason not to renew its contract, and signed $950,000 (about 1.3 billion won) this year. Considering that the league's top foreign player's ransom is worth 1 million U.S. dollars, the amount is a little less than that. He seems to have needed time to prove his value while playing full games for one season.
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The reason why Hanwha should not give up Weiss was completely proved in Game 4 of the Korean Series against LG on the 30th of last month. Weiss was tasked with turning the mood around by balancing two wins and two losses while Hanwha won one game after two losses. Weiss knew the responsibility too well, and he did his part perfectly by pitching 117 pitches and one run in seven ⅔ innings.
When Weiss went down the mound, Hanwha was leading 3-1 and added one run in the bottom of the eighth inning to run to 4-1, but the bullpen lost the ninth inning because it failed to properly hold three out-counts. In the ninth inning alone, he allowed six runs and lost 4-7. Weiss couldn't hide his disappointed expression because his team lost even though he played his life-fighting game. In the end, Hanwha missed Game 4, failing to use its strength until Game 5.
Hanwha should leave the disappointment of the runner-up behind and devise a new season. Ace Ponce is likely to break up as multiple U.S. Major League teams are expressing great interest. Hanwha is expected to set up a strategy to somehow catch Weiss, who has the skills to issue first. If we miss Weiss, we will be in shock of losing virtually all of our power that led to Hanwha's miracle this year.
If Weiss renews his contract, he is expected to see a huge increase in ransom by the late $1 million. It's a real reversal of life.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
