SATURDAY: Neither the Indians nor the Tigers submitted the winning bid for Park, via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and MLive.com’s Chris Iott (on Twitter). The Indians did bid for Park, although their bid came up short; the Tigers did not bid for him. The Rangers are not the team either, via a tweet from MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. The Orioles, who looked like a potential fit for Park, were outbid and will not be signing him, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets. The Padres did not win the bidding either, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (on Twitter). Meanwhile, Jeff Passan of Yahoo tweets that the Red Sox did not win the bid and will stick with Hanley Ramirez at first base.
FRIDAY: Korea’s Nexen Heroes have decided to accept a $12.85MM bid on the rights to negotiate a big league contract with first baseman Byung-Ho Park, the club said in an announcement. (The news comes via Korean outlet Naver Sports, at a Korean language link. Han Lee of Global Sporting Integration tweeted the key portion of the report in English.)
It is not yet known what MLB club won the posting process, but the as-yet-unidentified team will have thirty days to work out a contract with the first baseman. Nexen technically has until Monday afternoon to make its formal decision on the bid, at which point the clock will begin to run.
If Park and his new club are not able to reach agreement on a contract, all involved would lose something. Nexen would not receive the posting fee, Park would not be able to play in North America, and the winning team would not only miss out on the player but also the time spent in talks. It’s far from certain that a contract will be agreed upon, but the incentives are aligned to make it happen.
The reported $12.85MM fee would fall well shy of the $25MM+ posting amount commanded by lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu. But it steadily outpaces what the Pirates paid Nexen last year (around $5MM) for the rights to reach a deal with infielder Jung-Ho Kang. After the team-to-team transfer was arrived at, Kang and the Bucs agreed to a four-year, $11MM guarantee.
Surely, the success of the latter this year in the majors helped boost the appeal of Park. Both had similarly outlandish numbers in the KBO, though Park has done it more consistently over several seasond. Of course, he’s also a first baseman.
In the just-released list of MLBTR’s top fifty free agents, Tim Dierkes predicted that Park would command a $10MM posting fee and a five-year, $40MM contract from the winning team. The first part of that was close, but it remains to be seen how negotiations will proceed.
when will we know who won the bidding?
Monday most likely. I’m going maybe Phillies, Rockies, or Brewers here. Maybe A’s too.
Red Sox, Rangers, Orioles, Cardinals
Definitely not the Red Sox.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that. The Red Sox could decide to move on from Hanley. If they like Park, I could see them putting in a pretty big bid. They have scouted him pretty heavily, so they must have significant interest in him.
Since Park’s not a very good fielder, supposedly, I can’t imagine them deciding he’s a better option than Hanley, who has to be a much better hitter. If they trade Hanley they’re gonna have to carry most of his salary anyway. Makes no sense.
They might, it all comes down to their own personal evaluations of him. I don’t think it is the likeliest possibility (I personally think the Orioles or Cardinals make the most sense) but I wouldn’t be surprised by the move at all. If they think he can make contact enough, I could see them posting a big fee. I would say his power is just as good, if not better, than Hanley’s.
This Hanley is garbage line is getting old. On May 4th, 2015 he crashed into the wall with his left shoulder and seriously hurt it. Up til that game, he had a .283avg, .949OPS, and had 10 hr in April.
That player will be back next season. Not the injured one who finished the season.
I’m not saying I wouldn’t roll with Hanley. I personally think he can be a quality first basemen. But there are question marks about him. If he can’t play anywhere defensively, then it isn’t going to matter what he does offensively with Ortiz at DH. I think he will be average at 1st, but Dombrowski might think the opposite.
Over 162 games, Travis Shaw would have had 32 HR if he hit the same as he did over the 65 games he did play. He’s gotta be the Red Sox 1B moving forward.
Yeah, but maintaining that level of play for 162 games is not a guarantee. That’s basically like when ESPN projects a guy to have 120 home runs when he hits 5 in the first week of the season. Yes, Shaw might be a good one, but he might be the next Kevin Maas as well. Rookies often fall off in the second half of a season, a good example being Joc Pederson. Shaw just didn’t have his second half yet.
Do you think Travis Shaw can sustain that level of production given his mediocre (at best) minor league track record though?
We’re not talking about a AAAA guy. We’re talking about a big leaguer.
My projection on shaw would be a AAAA or starter on a second tier team
I’m talking about Hanley, not Shaw. Shaw is a AAAA player.
Red Sox also ha exam business partnership with Parks team so there’s a link
Cardinals are an interesting name, but can’t see them going there with Adams and Piscotty available, also don’t see the Redsox or Rangers in on him. Os are a real possibility though.
Tomorrow
Officially, it will be Monday at some point. I’m expecting we will hear reports soon however about who has won the bidding.
Oooooh, can’t wait to see who it is!
Also, A’s just claimed Andrew Lambo from Pirates – its up on twitter.
I hope it’s the Os. They can let Davis go and target Morneau on a short term deal to rotate with Park 1st and DH.
O’s seem like too good of a fit, since I can’t see them keeping Davis
O’s going after Park & Morneau does make sense, even though that may not play out that way.
Dodgers
Adrian Gonzalez would like a word.
I agree it would be surprising, but not completely out of character for LA. It’s not like the Dodgers have never bought a guy when they already had a player in position. There was Alex Guerrero, Erisbel Arrue…, Hector Olivera, and probably others I can’t think of right now.
It wouldn’t make sense though. The dodgers would then have to do something with Adrian or move park to another team. My bet is still on either the orioles or the rockies. I just can’t see much teams going after him when they already have someone. Like the giants with belt and posey
Update: guess not the orioles. So I’m going with the rockies or maybe red sox
Team finds out winner next Tuesday morning, which is 5PM Monday eastern time.
One of the National writers will figure it out tonight or tomorrow though.
He bats right-handed
Yeah that was just a complete gaffe on my part.
A lot of sports radio rumbling in Chicago it might have been the White Sox. With Adam LaRoche, it doesn’t make sense. But he’s dead weight anyway, maybe they will release him.
Abreu gonna be a full-time DH? He only did it about 25% of the time last year and was quite decent defensively.
Park is supposedly not a great defender. He could see time at DH, too, until they decide who the better first basemen is.
$50m for a DH when you already have a part-time on in Abreu? Not to mention LaRoche? Don’t think so, not when they have so many other needs.
Despite the fact the White Sox are in desperate need of more power in their lineup, it would be surprising to see them even bidding on a right-handed hitting 1B/DH with Jose Abreu in the fold for four more years. Park is 6 months older than Abreu and will likely also command command a four year deal from the winning bidder on top of the posting fee.
With the White Sox still on the hook for one more year of left-handed hitting 1B/DH Adam LaRoche’s contract at $13M in 2016, it is unfathomable to me (and totally of out character for the White Sox) that they would invest further this off-season for another high priced player who can only play the same positions…especially with so many other needs facing the team like a real MLB starting third baseman, an upgrade at catcher and more pitching depth. If the club can’t address their woeful power with new additions at 3B and/or C, it would make more sense for them to pursue it at a corner OF position than at 1B/DH. I’d rather they take a shot at trading for Dodger problem child OF Yasiel Puig than invest in another free agent 1B/DH.
I’m thinking Padres? Orioles? Mariners?
Padres can’t be interested. Yonder Alonso is about their only left handed hitter, and Park is a righty. Mariners are an outside possibility. I like Rockies and Orioles on this one.
Hopin its the Cardinals….
You think the Jays might bid?
My first guess would be no, Colabello and Smoak were fantastic last year and should be back. Eddy is basically just a DH now with an occasional game at first, and Jose is going to need sometime at DH to help keep him healthy. He’d be a decent fit for the ballpark and lineup but we need pitching in Toronto I can’t see around 40-50 million including posting fee to be put up for a 1B when we already have so much offensive power.
The upgrade from Smoakabello to Park is pretty marginal to be honest. $50M can be better spent upgrading the pitching imho. You could probably resign Estrada & Lowe for that much money for example
Wait I don’t understand. A team has already won the bidding?
Yes for 12.85 million now they have 30 days to work out a contract with the players agent. If they work out a contract they then pay the team he played for the posting fee.
With the Os out I’m betting on the Pirates
That’s what I’m thinking (and really hoping for as a Pirates fan) I think it’s done to Pirates Cards and Rockies
Pirates said they weren’t interested a while ago.
Really? I’m not saying you’re wrong but everything I’ve read said they were definitely interested in Park
I’ve read that they’ve been scouting him for quite some time. Same with the Red Sox. I’m thinking it is going to be the Red Sox, Cardinals, Pirates, or Rockies who winning the bidding.
A lot of teams have been scouting him, as the best player in his league.
Yes, I know that. Point is that there have been reports about the Pirates and Red Sox’ interest going back to around Febuary last year.
Well, Michael Morse is cheaper and probably a better hitter. And they have a fantastic 1B prospect a year or so away. Not the sort of thing a payroll-limited team does.
Still hoping it is the Cardinals and this does mean they will let Heyward walk easily…
No it would not.
My final bet is its either the rockies or the mariners. I just feel like just about every other team already has its first baseman. Unless they wanted to trade their first baseman, they wouldn’t bet on park
Mariners are a possibility sure, especially with trading LoMo. But they still have Trumbo, Montero and Cruz for the 1B and DH spots, all righties.
True, I forgot about those guys. It hard to know now
If it ends up being the Mariners, that’d be funny. They’d end up going back to their old ways.
Meant to say Red Sox have a business partnership with Parks team
I’m thinking the Rockies make a lot of sense considering they just declined 1B Justin Morneau’s $9M team option, instead buying him out for $750K. The $8.25M savings would pay a substantial portion of the $12.85M posting fee for Byong-ho Park, who at 29 is 5 years younger than Morneau and has fewer physical (concussion) issues.
Coors Field in Denver is also about the closest thing MLB has to offer in resembling the power hitting friendly ball parks in South Korea. Byong-ho Park’s power transition to MLB might be a less risky proposition for the Rockies than most any other club.
You know it’s the offseason when: A mystery team is the winning bid for something.
Looks like it’s the Cards.
stltoday.com/sports/columns/joe-strauss/strauss-ti…
“Concern is great enough that the Cardinals tendered an unsuccessful bid for Korean first baseman Byung-Ho Park.”
I’m guessing the Pirates won the bidding for Park.
Heard on 93.7 The Fan morning show that Pittsburgh won the bid.