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Ari Alexander, a reporter for "KPCR2," a local broadcaster in Houston, the U.S., said on the 3rd (Korea Standard Time) that the Oakland Athletics rejected $5 million in 2024 club options for Lucinski. As a result, Lucinski was released as a free agent.

Reporter Alexander said, "Lucinski threw five seasons in the Major League and played a monster role in the KBO from 2019 to 2022," adding, "Lucinski, who underwent back surgery, will miss part of the season in 2024 as well."

Major League Trade Rumours (MLBTR), which reported the news, also said, "It was an expected decision," adding, "Oakland signed a $3 million guarantee contract with Rucinski last offseason. He recruited Luchinski, who had an ERA of 2.97 for the KBO NC Dinos, at a low price, he said. "Luchinski's efforts to establish himself as a starting pitcher in the Major League have been thwarted due to injuries."

Lucinski played as an NC ace for four years from 2019 to 2022. In 121 games (732 ⅔ innings) in the KBO League, he lost 53 wins and 36 losses with an ERA of 3.06 strikeouts and 657 strikeouts. He led NC to its first integrated championship in 2020, and also spent his career high season in 2022 with 10 wins and 12 losses and a 2.97 ERA in 31 games (193 ⅔ innings).

He was in his mid-30s but returned to the U.S. on a major league contract. It was a 1+1 contract that included a $3 million annual salary guarantee this year and a $5 million club option next year. A small market, Auckland, invested a lot of money and brought it in.

However, Lucinski, who showed anxiety with a 6.97 ERA in three games from the exhibition game, failed to join the opening roster due to a left hamstring injury. He returned to the Major League at the end of April, but collapsed with four losses and an ERA of 9.00 in four games. In 18 innings, his control was shaken by 14 walks, and his pitching was very bad, with five home runs alone.

The four-seam fastball power was not normal. In the KBO league last year, he sprayed four-seam fastballs for an average of 148.7 kilometers based on PTS, but in the Major League this year, he fell more than 5 kilometers to 89 miles (143.2 kilometers). In the last game, on May 16, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the decrease in ball speed was so serious that it was only 88 miles (141.6 kilometers).

I was definitely not feeling well. Since then, Lucinski, who was put back on the injured list due to gastrointestinal illness, has not returned. He underwent surgery in July for a degenerative back disease and was out for the season. A gap is inevitable until the early-mid next season. There was no reason for Oakland to implement the $5 million club option, both in performance and physical condition.

As a result, it seems to have had a lot of influence from Korea. Luchinski was an inningter who pitched 177 innings or more for the fourth consecutive year in NC. During this period, he pitched 11,644 pitches in 732 ⅔ innings, the most in the league. All are the best in the league. Eric Jokic, who threw the next most innings and balls after Lucinski during the same period, also left the Kiwoom Heroes in June this year due to a partial rupture in the internal muscle. Neither of them overcame the aftermath of a large amount of pitches in their mid-30s.