The LG Twins have re-signed American slugger Austin Dean to a one-year, $2 million contract, making him the highest-paid foreign position player in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) league history.
The Twins announced Thursday that they had reached an agreement with Austin on a deal worth $2 million, approximately 2.67 billion won.
Austin became the first foreign position player in KBO history to reach the $2 million mark in annual salary.
The previous record for a foreign position player was $1.8 million, shared by Mel Rojas Jr., who played for the KT Wiz last year, and Guillermo Heredia of the SSG Landers.
The highest salary ever paid to a foreign player in the KBO remains the $2.1 million earned by pitcher Dustin Nippert of the Doosan Bears in 2017.
Before Austin, only four foreign players had earned at least $2 million in a season: Hector Noesi of the Kia Tigers in 2018, Drew Rucinski of the NC Dinos in 2022, James Naile of Kia in 2026 and Nippert. All four were pitchers.
Austin joined LG in 2023 and has played 539 games over four seasons, compiling a .320 batting average, 644 hits, 127 home runs and 449 RBIs.
He enjoyed a particularly strong 2026 season, appearing in all 144 regular-season games and batting .331, fourth in the league, with 180 hits, third, 41 home runs, third, and 127 RBIs, third.
He also led the league with a 1.062 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), anchoring the Twins' offense.
His 41 home runs set a new LG franchise record for a single season.
Austin has been a consistent performer since joining the club. He won Golden Glove awards in 2023 and 2024 and led the league in RBIs in 2024.
"I'm happy to be spending my fifth year with my LG teammates," Austin said. "Although this season ended disappointingly, I can still vividly hear the cheers of the fans who supported us until the end. I'm also looking forward to next season at our new ballpark."
Meanwhile, LG signed American right-handed starting pitcher Tristan Beck to a contract worth $878,000 on Nov. 5 and is searching for another foreign pitcher to complete its roster.
(This article was produced with the assistance of AI. — Ed.)
