Four years later, opt-out. Lee Jung-hoo won everything from the San Francisco Giants. The conditions are good enough for local fans to question, “Do we have to recruit him this much?”
However, MLB Network and CBS Sports listed Lee Jung-hoo’s name on the top of the list of San Francisco’s starting lineup for the 2024 season on the 13th (Korea time). Lee predicted that Lee will play center field.
On the same day, local media in the U.S., including MLB.COM, New York Post, and The Athletic, reported, “Lee Jung-hoo agreed to join San Francisco for six years and $113 million. The contract included an opt-out clause (breaking the contract by agreement with the club and players) four years later.”
Even before Lee Jung-hoo applied for the posting, San Francisco actively sent Lee a love call. San Francisco’s general manager Pete Putteller visited Seoul’s Gocheok Dome in October to watch Lee Jung-hoo hit the Kiwoom Heroes.
San Francisco has selected strengthening center field as its top priority in the upcoming stove league. San Francisco’s Outs Above Average (OAA) of center fielders in 2023 was -13, ranking 28th out of the 30 teams in the Major League. San Francisco did not have a good player to play as a center field player this year. Luis Matos played center field in the most 76 games, but he only posted a batting average of 0.250, two homers and 14 RBIs. Bryce Johnson played center field in 30 games and Wade Mackler in 20 games, but this was expected to be the case. Lee Jung-hoo seems to have entered the center field without blood.
ESPN said, “Lee Jung-hoo posted a personal batting average of 0.340 and a season-high 0.360 (2021) in the KBO League,” adding, “San Francisco evaluates that 25-year-old Lee Jung-hoo has the talent to be selected as a Major League All-Star.”
“The best scenario San Francisco draws is that unlike Kim Ha-sung, who struggled for two seasons after entering the big league and rebounded to an OPS of 0.749 this year in his third year, Lee Jung-hoo quickly adapts to the big league and hits above average on-base percentage and close to 0.300,” he also said.토토사이트
Japanese media including Sports Nippon and Daily Sports also reported Lee Jung-hoo as major news. Japanese media expressed surprise over the size of the posting contract. Lee has set a new record surpassing Ryu’s total Korean posting money (36 million dollars for six years with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013) and Kim Ha-sung’s average annual salary (28 million dollars for four years with the San Diego Padres in 2021; annual average of 7 million dollars).
Lee has even changed his record for posting money for Asian fielders. Sports Nippon said, “Yoshida Masataka signed a five-year contract with the Boston Red Sox in December 2022 for a total of 90 million dollars. Lee set the record for posting money for Asian fielders, surpassing both Yoshida’s total amount and average annual salary of 18 million dollars.” Among Asian players who entered the Major League through posting, pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was the only one who received higher treatment than Lee. Tanaka signed a seven-year, 155 million-dollar contract with the New York Yankees in 2014.