Roger Bernadina to stay in Korea

After a very successful season in which he helped the Kia Tigers win the KBO championship, Roger Bernadina has signed a one-year extension with the club from Gwangju.

The Tigers have been very active to keep the trio of foreign players in their team. Next to Bernadina, the club signed Hector Noesi to a $2 million contract extension and Pat Dean to a $950,000 extension. Bernadina got a new contract worth $1.1 million.

In the rankings of best batting average, Roger ranked sixteenth with an average of .320. He scored 118 runs, slugged .540, had an OPS of .918, scored 111 runs and was part of the 20-20 club with 27 home runs and 32 stolen bases. So it doesn’t come as a surprise the Kia Tigers wanted Bernadina to join their team again in 2018. Roger finished the Korean Series with a batting average of .526 with seven RBI, a home run, a triple and a stolen base.

Pretty soon after the season, the Tigers made clear, they wanted to have Roger back. But still, he wanted to explore his options. He was also interested in a possible return to the Major Leagues, where he played parts of seven seasons for the Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers, but eventually, the 33-year old from Curaçao opted for the Tigers.

With these three foreign players on the roster next year, the Tigers will surely be a candidate for a repeat next season.