The KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) Samsung Lions have announced today that they have cancelled contract negotiations with former Hanshin Tigers infielder, Mauro Gomez. The organization said that Gomez failed his medical test in South Korea during the final stages of the deal, with problems regarding about his knees (the injury said to have happened this off-season)… recent reports said that his contract was said to be worth around 1 million USD if he passed his physical, but sadly, that won’t happen anymore… and the Samsung Lions team said that they will now look for other options elsewhere, and have already inquired about other position players from overseas (former Samsung Lions infielder, 2nd baseman Yamaico Navarro is also being considered).

So far, the Samsung Lions only have 2 foreign players in the active roster with the recent termination of Mauro Gomez’ contract, and that’s Anthony Ranuado, and Zach Petrick, and will need at least one more position player to fulfill the league’s 3 foreign player limit quota.

Mauro Gomez still has other options on where to play this upcoming season, he can either go back to Japan in NPB (assuming if teams are alright with him even with the failed physical), or play for a different team in the KBO (Johnny Monell have been reported to have failed a physical with the NC Dinos during the final stages, but still ended up signing a contract with the KT Wiz even with the failed physical). The Hanwha Eagles, and the KT Wiz are still available at the moment, as both teams still need at least one more foreign player to fill the required player limit quota for the upcoming season.

Mauro Gomez finished his 2016 regular season campaign with the Hanshin Tigers, of the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) Central league batting .255/.325/.428 with 22 homeruns and 79 RBIs in 139 games played (554 plate appearances, to go along with 498 at-bats) last year, and is a career .270/.353/.448 hitter, with 65 homers and 260 RBI’s during his time in Japan.