Lee Jung-hoo, a member of Kiwoom Heroes, took on the challenge of Major League Baseball as a posting player, not an FA. After being named the KBO League MVP last year, he agreed to challenge the Major League through the posting system after consulting with his team Kiwoom, and Kiwoom submitted the necessary documents to the KBO Secretariat on the 22nd of last month. The KBO Secretariat requested 30 clubs to post through the MLB Secretariat on the 24th. And on December 5, the 30-day negotiations began when it was officially posted to 30 Major League clubs.
Lee Jung-hoo, who appointed Scott Boras, the “master of negotiations,” as his agent, had recently moved to the U.S. in person. This is to proceed with the final negotiations. San Francisco is one of the most active clubs in recruiting Lee Jung-hoo. When Lee Jung-hoo played after rehabilitation to say goodbye to fans at a home game held at Gocheok Sky Dome in October, San Francisco’s general manager Pete Putilla stood there. Putilla watched Lee’s every play from the stands and applauded when he greeted the fans.
In fact, the analysis of Lee Jung-hoo had already been completed. Lee Jung-hoo was not able to play properly due to surgery and rehabilitation after his injury this season. It was all the more meaningful, not looking at Lee Jung-hoo in order to analyze his performance. San Francisco is so interested in recruiting Lee Jung-hoo that its general manager flew to Korea and watched his farewell match at Kiwoom.
After the “Otani Battle” in the recent major league transfer market, the eyes were on Lee Jung-hoo, one of the biggest players in the field. Clubs that went out to recruit Shohei Ohtani were all out until the last minute. Clubs such as the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants, who played until the end, sent love calls, but the final result was a victory for the LA Dodgers. The Dodgers and Ohtani agreed to a 10-year, $700 million contract in professional sports history, and the clubs that failed to recruit Ohtani immediately targeted the next target. It was Lee Jung-hoo.
Both of them needed to reinforce their outfield presence. San Diego recently sent Juan Soto to the New York Yankees through a large-scale trade, resulting in a gap in the outfield. Given that the team has more leeway in pay roll, the team predicted that it would be aggressive in recruiting Lee Jung-hoo. In addition, Kim Ha-sung, Lee’s closest senior and former teammate, is currently playing as the starting infield for the San Diego Padres. He was mentioned as a strong candidate in many aspects, including that he has many players from Asia and is in an environment easy to get acquainted with.
However, San Francisco, which has been showing the most active interest in Lee Jung-hoo, became the winner as it made an unconventional bet worth more than 100 million dollars. Dennis Lin, a San Diego Padres reporter for The Athletic, said after news of Lee’s contract with San Francisco was announced, “Lee Jung-hoo’s contract requires additional transfer fee. San Diego, which also wants to strengthen pitchers, does not have that much leeway.”
Lee Jung-hoo’s contract size is the third Asian player to ever sign after Shohei Ohtani and Masahiro Tanaka. If Yoshinobu Yamamoto, considered the “biggest pitcher,” signs a contract with a major league club, he may fall to fourth place, but he is the best Korean player ever.
When Lee started posting in the Major League, the U.S. media selected him as an outfielder FA, and forecasted that the contract would be at least 50 to 60 million U.S. dollars based on total amount. The contract period was estimated at around four to five years. However, the contract period and amount that Lee actually agreed to with San Francisco exceeded that much. The price soared as competition for ransom intensified. Kiwoom, the original team, hit the jackpot of receiving 18.885 million dollars as a posting fee alone. The transfer fee will be paid by the San Francisco club separately from the Lee Jung-hoo contract salary.
Seiya Suzuki and Masataka Yoshida, who are Japan’s national players and challenged the Major League after dominating the Japanese professional baseball (NPB) stage, can be the most specific comparative examples. When Suzuki signed with the Chicago Cubs in 2022, the total was $85 million for five years, and Yoshida recorded $90 million for five years when he signed with the Boston Red Sox a year ago. Both are Japanese genius hitters.
Taking the case of Suzuki and Yoshida, the U.S. media expected Lee Jung-hoo’s ransom to fall short of them. Lee Jung-hoo’s career so far is great and he is likely to succeed in the Major League, but he predicted it to be lowered considering the difference between the KBO League and the NPB’s league level. One U.S. media criticized, “The KBO League is at the level between Double A and Triple A,” and explained that Lee Jung-hoo’s ransom standards could change because it is a league that is lower than the NPB. However, Lee Jung-hoo succeeded in the “dream contract” by easily exceeding $100 million as if laughing at it.토토사이트 순위
Yoshida entered the Major League by being recognized as the best hitter in the Japanese pro baseball league, but there was controversy over his overpayment. Including the posting money that he had to pay to the Orix Buffaloes, the total amount reached 105.4 million dollars. However, Yoshida successfully played his debut season in the big league, putting to rest controversy over his overpayment. He had 155 hits, 15 homers and 72 RBIs in 140 games, with a batting average of 2089 with a on-base percentage of 0.338, a slugging percentage of 0.445, and an OPS of 0.783. The figure ranks fifth overall in the American League in terms of batting average.
Lee also has a good chance of success. Rather, his physical conditions and adaptability are more favorable than those of Yoshida. He is five years younger than Yoshida, who was born in 1993, and has outstanding physical conditions such as height and physique. On top of that, he can play center fielder and is also receiving positive reviews for his defense capability. He boasts long hitting power.
Lee Jung-hoo’s $100 million surpassing the contract terms of Japanese hitters could be a symbolic example for the KBO League. It can be highly evaluated compared to Japanese players, and it also means that major league clubs’ views of Korean players are changing more positively than in the past. A new reference point could be set for KBO league players who dream of entering the Major League following Lee Jung-hoo in the future. Lee Jung-hoo, the “grandchild of the wind,” is writing a new history in Korean baseball.