After seeing former teammate Jung-ho Kang sign with the Pirates this offseason, Byung-ho Park of the Korea Baseball Organization’s Nexen Heroes is hopeful that he will have the opportunity to make his way to MLB as well, reports Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency. Park, a two-time KBO MVP, told reporters prior to the season that he’s long dreamed of playing in Major League Baseball, according to Yoo.
Park is eligible to be posted for MLB clubs following the 2015 season if the Heroes choose to allow it. Yoo reports that Park has enlisted Octagon, the same agency that negotiated Kang’s four-year deal with the Pirates, to represent him if he is indeed posted. It’s worth reminding that the KBO posting process is not the same as the new posting process with Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Under the Korean system, which is the same as the old NPB posting system, all 30 teams would have the opportunity to submit a blind bid for Park’s services, and the team to submit the highest bid would then have a 30-day window to negotiate a contract with Park. Should the two sides fail to reach an agreement, the posting fee would be returned to the team that won the bid.
Six Major League clubs, including the Pirates, have asked for credentials to send scouts to watch the Heroes this week, according to Yoo. However, teams regularly scout KBO and other Asian leagues, and one Heroes official said to Yoo that he “only heard they’re here to watch the whole league.” Yoo adds that Park’s agents at Octagon had contact with the Red Sox and A’s during Spring Training when the Heroes were training in Arizona. Additionally, a scout who attended Tuesday’s Heroes game told Yoo that there is indeed interest in Park among scouts, though that shouldn’t be entirely surprising based on the 28-year-old’s numbers.
KBO is known to be an exceptionally hitter-friendly environment, but Park’s .310/.434/.645 batting line over the past two seasons is nonetheless impressive. After hitting 31 homers in 2012 and 37 in 2013, Park’s long ball total soared to 52 last season, and he’s already belted six in 103 plate appearances this season. However, with the increase in power came an uptick in strikeouts, as his strikeout rate jumped from about 17 percent in 2013 to 25 percent in 2014. His 24 punchouts in 103 PAs this season seem to suggest that the increase in whiffs could be a lasting trend.
The right-handed hitting Park is listed at 6’1″, 236 pounds and is set to turn 29 years old this July, so if he were to be posted, teams would still be potentially buying some prime years. While his placement on the low end of the defensive spectrum likely limits his value somewhat, a potential prime-aged, right-handed power bat could add an interesting wrinkle to a class of free agent first basemen that is led by Chris Davis but also features mid-30s bats such as Mike Napoli and Justin Morneau.
I’ll be in Seoul next month. One more reason to catch a few Nexen games.
Is it just me or do all these Korean, Asian, Japanese pitchers that come over to MLB always end up hurt?
I’m starting to wonder if the throwing programs here in the United States are the issue. Guys are throwing crazy pitch totals in these other countries or leagues and then they get hurt when they’re out here. If I didn’t have final exams coming up, it’d be something I’d look into.
I know I’m not nearly on the same level but when I was playing I had to throw every day for my arm to feel fine. As soon as I get to high school ball my coach had me throw two or three times a week and my arm and my arm never recovered
Japanese pitchers only pitch once a week; that’s something.
Yu Darvish last year recommended teams do 6 man rotations. Though I’m not sure if that will fix the issue of injuries stockpiling.
I also wouldn’t think teams would have the roster space; with 6 starters and 7 relievers that would leave just 3 bench spots, although some AL teams construct their rosters in that way at times.
Japanese kids have it really bad too, Koshien is where young pitchers go to die
Where’s the next Hideki Matsui
Only from a different country…
All I can see is Dr.Evil saying “one hundred billion dollars”
That’s some serious right-handed power potential that could be had pretty inexpensively.
What position does he play? Did I miss it, or did the writer seriously not tell us?
6’1″, 236 lbs is pretty heavy. Is he limited to DH, or can he actually play the field somewhere?
He was a catcher in high school but transitioned to first base. Not sure if he has any defensive skills, but doesn’t need any in Korea with that much power (all Korean teams have DH).
I think that for articles like this, the player’s age and position should be in the very first paragraph.
a simple click of his name will take you to his bbref page. but if that’s too difficult for you, he’s 28 and plays 1B.
I have to admit, I was down on Kang but he’s looked really good the more ABs he’s gotten. He’s even starting to show some pop. I wish he’d get a bit more playing time with JHay struggling but I doubt he will since they just gave him that contract.
I guess my point here is yeah super super small sample size but I’m starting to think the elite Korean players might work as well over here as most of the elite Japanese have. So whoever signs Park could very well be getting a steal.
What, he’s going to get a massive contract and hit sub .230?
Minus the completely different body type, the different position and the different skill-set, sure.
But hey they’re from the same country, so sure, they’ll probably be the same player aside from handedness.