In their quest to add a veteran outfielder this past offseason, the Orioles acquired Hyun Soo Kim of South Korea, entering them yet again into a corner of the international market in which even the most established stars are hard to evaluate.
More and more teams recently have tapped the Korean Baseball Organization to lure its stars to the American talent pool, and that it's small-market teams such as the Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates and Minnesota Twins suggests that there's value in doing so.
But combine the scant major league track record of players coming over from the KBO, the stark cultural adjustment required when they come over and perhaps most importantly the heaps of personal and national pride at stake, and there's plenty of uncertainty involved in bringing these players to the United States.