Teams in the KBO are typically permitted to carry three foreign players (usually two pitchers and one position player) on the active roster during the season. A new league rule will take effect beginning with the 2026 season, effectively adding a fourth foreign player spot reserved for a player who played in another Asian league or in Australia during the previous season.

The league has other rules governing foreign players, notably instituting a strict salary cap ($1M USD, including bonuses) on all first-year players.

Zach Logue. LHP

Logue will be entering his second season with the Bears, with whom he was 10-8 with a 2.81 ERA over 176.0 IP in 2025. The 29-year-old made 19 appearances (10 starts) with the Athletics, Tigers, and Dodgers between the 2022-24 seasons, working to a 7.20 ERA over 70.0 IP.

Chris Flexen, RHP

Flexen pitched for Doosan during the 2020 season, going 8-4 with a 3.01 ERA over 116.2 IP, and will now return to the club for a second campaign. The 31-year-old has otherwise pitched for five clubs during his eight-year MLB career, posting a 4.83 ERA and 1.471 WHIP over 691.1 IP.

Daz Cameron, OF

Cameron will be heading overseas for the first time. Cameron batted .200/.258/.326 in 472 PA over parts of five seasons with the Tigers, A’s, and Brewers (including an 8-for-41 stretch in 21 games last season). He just turned 29.

Ichiro Tamura, RHP

Tamura, 31, spent nine seasons in the NPB with the Seibu Lions, working to a 3.40 ERA and 1.276 WHIP over 182.2 IP in the Pacific League.

Yonathan Perlaza, OF

Perlaza is returning to Hanwha after spending 2025 with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate. The 27-year-old spent the 2023 season with the Eagles, hitting .275/.364/.486 in 522 PA with 24 2B, 24 HR, and 70 RBI. Despite solid offensive numbers across eight minor league seasons, he never received an opportunity for MLB at-bats.

Wilkel Hernandez, RHP

Hernandez heads overseas for the first time. He has spent the last eight seasons in Detroit’s minor league system, reaching Triple-A this past year (4.80 ERA over 114.1 IP). He turns 27 in April.

Owen White, RHP

White also enters his first year in Korea. The 26-year-old has made just eight appearances over the last three seasons with the Rangers and White Sox (20 ER in 14.0 IP). He’s seen little success at Triple-A in that same stretch, holding a 4-18 record and 5.07 ERA over 232.1 IP (62 starts).

Wang Yan-Cheng, LHP

Wang, 24, pitched for the Rakuten Golden Eagles’ second division team over the last six seasons, but never saw an opportunity with the big league club despite pitching to a 3.62 ERA over 343.0 IP.

James Naile, RHP

Naile will head into his third season in the KBO with the Tigers, where he is 20-9 with a 2.38 ERA and 290 SO in 313.2 IP. Naile, 33 in February, spent eight years in the minor leagues with the Athletics and Cardinals, ultimately getting into 17 games with St. Louis in 2022 and 2023 (20 ER in 24.1 IP).

Adam Oller, RHP

Oller returns for his second season with the Tigers, with whom he was 11-7 with a 3.62 ERA and 169 SO in 149.0 IP last year. The 31-year-old pitched to a 6.54 ERA over 136.1 IP (23 starts, 36 games) with the Athletics and Marlins between 2022-24 before receiving a chance to play in Korea.

Harold Castro, INF/OF

Castro joins the Tigers for his first season in the KBO. He spent 2025 with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate, hitting .307/.354/.538 in 403 PA with 18 2B, 21 HR, and 65 RBI while playing all four infield positions. Most of his playing time came in the outfield corners during the prior season in Mexico (and most of his time the last two years in the Venezuelan Winter League). Castro’s last MLB playing time came in 2023. The 32-year-old hit .278/.303/.366 in 1,485 PA over parts of six seasons with the Tigers and Rockies.

Jarryd Dale, INF

Dale will be playing his first season in Korea. The 25-year-old spent just one season in the NPB’s minor leagues with the Orix Buffaloes’ second division team, hitting .297/.357/.398 in 129 PA. Originally signed as an international amateur free agent out of Australia, Dale spent six seasons in the Padres’ minor league system, but played in just 46 games above High-A (33 at Double-A, 13 at Triple-A).

Raúl Alcantara, RHP

Alcantara is entering his sixth season overall in the KBO, where he holds a 54-28 record with a 3.22 ERA and 1.123 WHIP over 748.2 IP. After nine years in the minor leagues with the Red Sox and A’s, including 13 MLB appearances (9 starts) with the 2016-17 Athletics (7.19 ERA in 46.1 IP), Alcantara first headed overseas. He spent two years in the KBO before moving to the NPB, working almost exclusively in relief for the Hanshin Tigers, before returning to Korea. 2026 will be his second with Kiwoom.

Nathan Wiles, RHP

Wiles heads into his first season in Korea. The 27-year-old spent most of his minor league career with the Rays before joining the Braves’ system. He made his MLB debut this past season, a single April appearance in which he allowed 3 ER on 4 H in just an inning of work.

Trenton Brooks, 1B/OF

Brooks also heads into his first year in the KBO. His nine seasons in the minor leagues have been split between first base and the outfield corners. The 30-year-old got into 12 games with the Giants in 2024 and 25 with the Padres in 2025, hitting .136/.208/.212 in 72 PA.

Yuto Kanakubo, RHP

Kanakubo has spent most of his pro career with the Yakult Swallows’ second division club, but he’s made 34 appearances over the last six seasons with the Central League team, posting a 4.31 ERA over 87.2 IP.

Matt Sauer, RHP

Sauer heads overseas for the first time. The 27-year-old (as of mid-January) spent six years in the Yankees’ minor league system before being selected by the Royals in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft. Sauer made 14 appearances with Kansas City (14 ER in 16.1 IP) before being returned to the Yankees. He’d leave the organization after the season, agreeing to a minor league deal with the Dodgers (he’d make 10 appearances for the team last season, allowing 21 ER in 29.2 IP).

Caleb Boushley, RHP

Boushley will also be heading into his first season overseas. The 32-year-old has made 28 appearances in the big leagues with the Brewers, Twins, and Rangers over the last three seasons, posting a 5.80 ERA in 49.2 IP.

Sam Hilliard, OF

Hilliard will be another first-timer in the KBO in 2026. The 31-year-old has seen MLB action over parts of the last seven seasons, six of them with the Rockies, and holds a career slash line of .218/.298/.437 in 936 PA.

Sugimoto Koki, RHP

Sugimoto’s professional career has centered on the Japanese independent leagues, where he has pitched over the last two seasons. The 25-year-old posted a 3.05 ERA in 42 appearances in 2025 with the Tokushima Indigo Socks.

Yonny Chirinos, RHP

Chirinos returns for his second year with the Twins, where he was 13-6 with a 3.31 ERA over 177.0 IP this past season. The 32-year-old appeared in 75 games (44 starts) over a six-year big league career with the Rays, Marlins, and Braves, posting a 4.22 ERA in 356.1 IP with a 20-17 record.

Austin Dean, 1B

Dean enters his fourth season in Korea with the Twins, where he has slashed .315/.384/.560 in 1686 PA with 86 2B and 86 HR. Dean, 32, hit well over 10 seasons in the minor leagues, but mustered a mere .228/.286/.390 line in 365 PA in the majors over parts of five seasons with the Marlins, Cardinals, and Giants before heading overseas.

Anders Tolhurst, RHP

Tolhurst enters his second season in the KBO, after going 6-2 with a 2.86 ERA in 44.0 IP (8 starts) last year with the Twins after joining the team midseason. The 26-year-old has spent his whole pro career in the Blue Jays’ minor leagues, reaching Triple-A for the first time in 2025.

Lachlan Wells, LHP

Wells returns to the KBO, where he finished the 2025 season after spending some time pitching in his native Australia. Wells had a 3.15 ERA over 20.0 IP (4 starts) with Kiwoom last season. The 28-year-old (29 in February) also spent five seasons in the minor leagues with the Twins and Phillies, topping out at Double-A.

Elvin Rodríguez, RHP

Rodríguez heads into his first year in the KBO, but it’s not his first venture overseas. He spent the 2024 season in Japan with the Yakult Swallows, splitting the year between their first and second division teams while combining for a 1.74 ERA over 88.0 IP. The 27-year-old has made 15 MLB appearances between the 2022, 2023, and 2025 seasons with a 9.40 ERA over 52.2 IP.

Jeremy Beasley, RHP

Beasley enters his first year in Korea after spending the last three seasons with the NPB’s Hanshin Tigers, where he posted a 2.82 ERA in 147.0 IP out of the bullpen. The 30-year-old spent five years in the minors and made 18 appearances in the majors with the D-backs and Blue Jays from 2020-22 with a 5.84 ERA in 24.2 IP.

Victor Reyes, OF

Reyes is heading into his third season with Lotte, where he has slashed .339/.390/.493 in 1275 PA with 84 2B, 28 HR, and 218 RBI. The 31-year-old spent 10 seasons in the minor leagues and saw MLB time with the Tigers in five of them, hitting .264/.294/.379 in 1280 PA.

Masaya Kyoyama, RHP

Kyoyama, 27, spent the last nine years with the Yakult Swallows, seeing time with their first division team in seven of them. He pitched to a 4.60 ERA in 277.2 IP in 84 appearances in the Central League.

Curtis Taylor, RHP

Taylor enters his first year in the KBO. The 30-year-old has spent eight years in the minor leagues with six clubs, reaching as high as Triple-A.

Matt Davidson, 1B

Davidson returns for his third season with the Dinos, where he’s hit .300/.360/.627 in 1006 PA with 82 HR and 216 RBI. Davidson, who’ll be 35 in March, spent parts of a dozen seasons in the minor leagues after being a 1st round pick in 2009 and appeared on preseason top prospect rankings several times. He played in 306 games over parts of six MLB seasons, batting .220/.290/.430 in 1112 PA, and also spent a year in the NPB.

Riley Thompson, RHP

Thompson enters his second year in the KBO, where he was 17-7 with a 3.45 ERA in 172.0 IP with the Dinos last season. Thompson, 29, spent five years in the Cubs’ minor league system, topping out at Triple-A.

Natsuki Toda, RHP

Toda joins the KBO after a five-year stint with the Yomiuri Giants. The 25-year-old appeared in just 19 games with the first division team over the last three seasons, working to a 5.53 ERA in 27.2 IP.

Ariel Jurado, RHP

Jurado heads into his fourth season in the KBO and second with Samsung. He’s pitched to a 36-24 record and 2.87 ERA in 571.1 IP over the last three seasons in Korea. Jurado (30 at the end of January) made 45 appearances (27 starts) with the Rangers and Mets from 2018-20, posting a 5.97 ERA in 181.0 IP.

Lewin Díaz, 1B

Díaz returns to the Lions for a second season after a dominant first go-around. Díaz hit .314/.381/.644 in 628 PA last season with 32 2B, 50 HR, and 158 RBI — breaking the league’s single-season marks for homers by a foreign player and RBI. Still just 29, Díaz slashed just .181/.227/.340 in 343 PA in the majors with Miami from 2020-22.

Matt Manning, RHP

Manning heads into his first year overseas. Manning (28 in late January) appeared on preseason top prospect lists several times (and made two appearances in the All-Star Futures Game) but has struggled to produce in the majors. He made 50 starts across four seasons with the Tigers, posting a 4.43 ERA over 254.0 IP.

Yura Miyaji, RHP

Miyaji remains largely unproven. He spent a year pitching in the Japanese independent leagues, posting a 2.88 ERA over 25.0 IP.

Mitch White, RHP

White returns to the Landers for a second season, after going 11-4 with a 2.87 ERA in 134.2 IP in 2025. White, 31, saw time in the majors over parts of five seasons with four different teams, appearing in 71 games (22 starts) with a 5.25 ERA in 185.0 IP.

Guillermo Heredia, OF

Heredia is entering his fourth season in Korea with the Landers, where he’s slashed .342/.394/.499 in 1529 PA with 78 2B, 46 HR, and 248 RBI. The 34-year-old (35 in late January) spent six years playing in Cuba before signing with the Mariners as an amateur free agent. He’d get into 591 MLB games over parts of seven seasons, hitting .231/.310/.346 in 1566 PA.

Anthony Veneziano, LHP

Veneziano heads into his first year in Korea in unusual circumstances. The Landers had signed right-hander Drew VerHagen to this spot on the roster, but the team withdrew the agreement when his pre-camp physical revealed an undisclosed injury. The 28-year-old has made 40 MLB appearances over the last three seasons with three teams, pitching to a 3.98 ERA across 40.2 IP.

Takeda Shota, RHP

Shota, 32, has split the last dozen years with the Softbank Hawks’ first and second division teams, posting a 3.34 ERA in 1006.0 IP in the NPB’s highest level.