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Editors note: This story originally ran on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2016. Eric Thames signed a three-year contract with the Brewers on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016.Koreas contributions to Major League Baseball have run the gamut in recent years. Jung Ho Kang, the crown jewel of transplants, is an .800 OPS anchor in the Pittsburgh Pirates order. Seattles Dae-Ho Lee flashed some power this season, with 14 home runs in 104 games. Baltimores Hyun Soo Kim hit .302 without a lot of pop, and Byung Ho Park batted .191 in 62 games with Minnesota before a demotion to the minors and season-ending wrist surgery in August. That was hardly what the Twins had in mind when they signed him to a four-year, $12.85 million contract a year ago.So who will be next on the list? The primary name on MLBs Korea radar has California roots, an outsized personality and enough of a mystery factor to suggest he could be a wild card in this winters free-agent market.His name is Eric Thames, and Toronto fans might recall him as a platoon outfielder with the Blue Jays in 2011 and 2012. After drifting from Seattle to Houston to the NC Dinos in the Korean Baseball Organization, he has lured a procession of scouts to the city of Changwon, on Koreas southeastern coast. The?San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays are among the clubs that have followed Thames in Korea and expressed varying degrees of interest in him, sources said.Thames, 30, has spent the past three years putting up cartoon numbers that bring to mind the success enjoyed by Tuffy Rhodes and Wladimir Balentien in Japan. In 2015, Thames won the MVP award and a Gold Glove at first base, became the first KBO player to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season, logged a .391/.497/.790 slash line and became the first player in Korean baseball to hit for the cycle twice in the same season.This year, Thames regressed slightly, but he still hit 40 homers and logged an OPS of 1.101 for the Dinos, who lost to the Doosan Bears in the KBO final, known as the Korean Series.Now that Thames has reached the end of a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Dinos, options abound. He could return to the Dinos, although his success might have priced him out of the KBO. He could pursue a deal in Japan. Or he could plunge into the MLB free-agent market, where the left-handed power-hitting options include Michael Saunders, Colby Rasmus, Mitch Moreland, Adam Lind,?Pedro Alvarez and Brandon Moss.Is Thames an everyday option for a team in search of a power bat, or more of a platoon type? Interested major league teams arent the only ones asking that question. Four years since his last big league at-bat, Thames is curious what the future might bring.Yes, the thought has crossed my mind a few times, Thames said in a recent email to ESPN.com. Im wondering about how my new mindset could transfer over. Next year feels like light years away! Who knows where I will end up.Thames has taken a roundabout route to this point. He played high school ball at Bellarmine Prep -- a private Jesuit school in San Jose, California, that produced big leaguers Pat Burrell and Kevin Frandsen?--?and signed with Toronto as a seventh-round pick out of Pepperdine University in 2008. He was at the bottom of the 40-man roster for a 111-loss Houston team and playing winter ball in Venezuela in December 2013 when representatives for the Dinos squad approached his agents at Sosnick, Cobbe & Karon with interest.As a bearded, muscular, 6-foot-1, 220-pounder with power and an abundance of tattoos, Thames had a certain?appeal for the Dinos.They had done their homework, said Adam Karon, Thames agent. They told us they were interested because, Hes a comic book hero with a prep school education.Thames was initially skeptical about his long-term prospects in the Far East. He planned to go to Korea for a year, then return stateside. But his natural curiosity prompted him to keep an open mind. Shortly after signing with NC, Thames bought the Rosetta Stone Korean program and dove head-first into learning the language.When you look at this as just a paycheck, thats when you struggle, Thames said. The key is to enjoy the ride. Fully embrace the experience. [The] Hangul [alphabet] is pretty easy to learn, so I was able to pick it up easily. I am not fluent by any means, but speaking like a baby is better than not knowing any at all.As Thames immersed himself in the Korean culture and began clearing fences with regularity, he developed an ardent following. He patiently signed autographs for long lines of fans at Masan Stadium, and he grew accustomed to having meals interrupted by fans in search of selfies.Going anywhere with him is insane in that country, Karon said. Its like going out with the Beatles. Girls are crying and people are trying to touch him and get pictures. Ive never seen anything like it.Celebrity came with a price. In late September, Thames was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and suspended nine games. The legal limit for blood alcohol content in Korea is 0.050, considerably lower than in the U.S., and Thames registered a 0.056. He apologized and subsequently did community service as a penance.A Far East scout for an MLB club said Thames showed a strong work ethic in Korea and was popular with his teammates. The natural question is how his skills will translate to the majors. Can he adjust to higher level of competition and bigger ballparks in the majors? Thames has more of a line-drive swing than loft power. Can he catch up to 94-95 mph fastballs after feasting on 89-91 mph heaters in the KBO?Hes very aggressive at the plate and on the field, too, for that matter, the scout said. Hes a first-ball fastball hacker, boy. Hes trying to hit the ball hard. Sometime you see guys who are happy to make contact and put the ball in play. Thats not him. Hes gonna hurt somebody someday.Thames defense in the outfield was considered below-average in Toronto. He moved to first base in Korea and will most likely be viewed by MLB teams as a combination first baseman-corner outfield-DH candidate. A National League front office man said he wouldnt be surprised if teams were willing to give Thames a multiyear deal to return to the States.You have an element thats going to be skeptical, the executive said. Hes already played over here, and he wasnt a tremendous success the first time. But you have to ask yourself, Is this guy a late bloomer?Look at some of the money that Cuban players have gotten. Whats the difference here? I think somebody is going to bite, and hell get a contract for two years and $12 million, or three years and $15-18 million.Thames, who majored in integrated marketing and communications at Pepperdine, is back on the open market as a more mature, worldly player than the one who first traveled to Korea in 2014. He has embraced meditation and is a fan of Shawn Greens book, The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 mph.I focus on the process rather than the results, Thames said. When I was younger, I just wanted to be liked by fans and wanted to be an All-Star, but there is a process to succeed at that high of a level. I believe meditation is very important. It helps keep your head above water. It helps you live in the present moment.The present finds Eric Thames open to offers and interested in seeing how much MLB teams value his achievements in Korea. After traveling roughly 6,000 miles to find himself, hes about to discover how it feels to be wanted back in the states. Adidas NMD Dames . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. Adidas Continental 80 Heren . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. http://www.nmdbelgie.com/ . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Adidas Schoenen NMD . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Yeezy Boost 350 v3 Belgie . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Last year, Kansas pulled off the upset of the NCAA volleyball tournament by knocking out top-seeded Southern Cal to advance to the final four. This year, it was the Jayhawks turn to feel the weight of expectations, and that ended up being their undoing.The fifth-seeded Jayhawks, who won the Big 12 title for the first time in program history this season, were upset in the NCAA tournament second round Friday by Creighton, 3-2.The match ended with an amazing, nerve-racking 20-18 fifth set that the Bluejays initially thought they had won at 18-16 on a ball that Kansas hit out. But with Creighton celebrating, the officials conferred and said that the ball had been touched by a Bluejays player, making it 17-17.That could have really rattled Creighton, but the Bluejays didnt let it happen.We did touch it; Im not going to lie, said Creighton junior setter Lydia Dimke. Weve been saying all year long this team is really mature. So to [have] such a high like We just won! and then get brought back down, we just really stuck together. We knew we were going to win it again.Thats what Creighton did, advancing to the Sweet 16 for thhe second season in a row.dddddddddddd Last year, the Bluejays beat North Carolina on the Tar Heels home court in the second round.Creighton was led by sophomore outside hitter Jaali Winters with 23 kills. Big 12 Player of the Year Kelsie Payne led Kansas with 26 kills.Creighton had lost 3-2 to Kansas in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sept. 8. The Jayhawks had gone 8-0 in five-set matches this season until Friday.Hats off to them on a phenomenal season, Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said of the Jayhawks, who finish 27-3. To some degree, were playing with house money, and I think the pressure is tough. It was surreal. We made our first Sweet 16 last year, and that was pretty incredible. But this one is even bigger.Creighton, which went five sets in beating Northern Iowa in the first round, will face No. 12 seed Michigan in the regional semifinals. Also advancing to the Sweet 16 on Friday were No. 3 seed Wisconsin and No. 15 seed Missouri; the other 12 spots in the regional semifinals will be decided Saturday. ' ' '