The Kiwoom Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization announced that they will post outfielder and reigning league MVP Lee Jung-hoo after the upcoming season, per Yoo Jee-ho of the Yonhap News Agency.
“After some internal discussions, we agreed to respect the player’s intent to play in Major League Baseball,” the team said in a statement. “We will provide whatever support necessary for the player.” Lee also provided a quote in the statement. “The team has been giving me so much support since I was a rookie, and I was able to start dreaming about playing overseas because the team has helped me grow as a player,” he said. “First and foremost, I will concentrate on the upcoming season. I will put aside personal ambitions and try to help the team win the Korean Series.”
Lee is only 24 years old but already has already played six seasons in the KBO, bursting onto the scene in 2017 when he was only 18 years old. He played 144 games that season and only hit a couple of home runs but showed a great ability at the plate otherwise. He walked in 9.6 percent of his plate appearances while striking out in just 10.8 percent of them and produced a batting line of .324/.395/.417. That production was 12 percent better than league average, as evidenced by his 112 wRC+.
He was given Rookie of the Year honors for that performance and has only continued to get better at the plate in subsequent seasons. His excellent plate discipline has only improved as he’s settled into the league, resulting in a 10.5 percent walk rate and tiny 5.1 percent strikeout rate in 2022. That was the fourth straight season in which he walked more than he struck out. His power has also ticked up over time, with Lee launching 23 home runs in the most recent season. He finished with a batting line of .349/.421/.575 for a wRC+ of 175, indicating he was 75 percent better than league average. He was awarded Most Valuable Player for that excellent work. It’s not just at the plate where Lee shines either. He has stolen 63 bases over his six seasons in the KBO and has won Golden Glove awards for his outfield work in each of the past five campaigns.
After the upcoming campaign, Lee will have the seven seasons of experience necessary for KBO players to be posted. He will also turn 25 in August, a significant milestone for his move to MLB. International players under 25 years of age and/or with fewer than six years of professional experience are considered “amateurs” rather than professionals under MLB’s international free agency rules and are thus subject to the “bonus pool” system, where each team has an MLB-mandated cap on how much it can spend on signing bonuses.
International “amateurs” can only agree to minor league deals and signing bonuses, whereas “professionals” like former NPB players Seiya Suzuki, Masataka Yoshida and Kodai Senga (i.e. players 25 and older with six-plus years of pro experience) are free to sign Major League contracts for any length and dollar amount; for example, Shohei Ohtani came over to the Angels prior to his age-23 season, settling for a $2.3MM signing bonus and was unable to reach free agency until after 2023. Had he waited two more years, he could have immediately signed a nine-figure contract.
Lee will thus be able to sign a contract of any length or dollar amount once he reaches the open market. FanGraphs gives him a 50 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale, giving high praise for his work at the plate. They have a little bit of concern about his ground ball rate being near 60 percent and that he has struggled a bit against high velocity, but they still believe him to be a very exciting player.
If Lee does sign with a major league team next year, the club would owe a fee to the Heroes under the MLB – KBO posting agreement. That’s tied to the size of the contract itself, with the MLB team owing the KBO club 20 percent of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5 percent of the next $25MM and 15 percent of any dollars thereafter. That fee is on top of any dollars guaranteed to the player himself, and subsequent earning (e.g. performance incentives, contract options) are also subject to the posting system once they become guaranteed to the player.
After a brief YouTube of the kid, wow. The bat to ball skills are extremely impressive.
Is it just me, or does that bath path look SUPER long and loopy, like he could get abused by high velo?
Scouts say he struggles with inside heat. It is interesting that his bat path looks more like a power hitter when he doesn’t seem to hit many home runs. But, I am impressed with his ability to pull the ball, and he looks like he can destroy breaking pitches all over the zone.
Ian Happ had a similar problem but appears to have solved it.
I don’t follow any team who refers themselves as “heroes”. The word is used far too much these days, and doesn’t deserve it.
Damn, .342 batting average over career, not bad.
I had a .500 BA in high school, what makes this a reality in today’s market?
There’s plenty of folks who can play BB in America, let’s stop ignoring them just to be politically correct
What happened to you then? .500 ba is pretty impressive even in high school. You salty because you think you weren’t looked at? I’m not following your comment.
What does this comment mean? Nothing? Just random words?
Could be a good runner-up in the Ohtani sweepstakes.
Lee Jung who?
66 BBs to 32 Ks. Nickname must be Good Eye
Another one for Farhan to prepare to miss out on.
I’m very much for players in the Asian leagues coming over (and think a lot of the aversion to them is misguided), but I’d be vary of teams signing this guy. Documented struggles against high velocity and an ultra-high GB rate are some pretty serious red flags for making the transition, especially in the KBO’s ultra-hitter-friendly environment
There is nothing wrong with speedy players putting some on the ground. Hoping he is Harris’ type of player.
Dude stole 63 bases in 6 seasons. Not exactly a burner to be hitting ground balls
He’ll struggle his first season like ha son Kim but I think in the long run will be ok.
Trouble with velo. Heard this when Hyun Soo Kim was signed. He couldn’t translate. MLB you have warned.
Maybe he’ll like a 101 cutter from Alvarado at his head
Kim is one of the best defensive SS in MLB and hit 50pts higher for avg last year plus 11hr.
Ha Seong Kim is. Hyun Soo Kim is an outfielder who signed with the Orioles a few years ago who was out of the league after two years
Hyun Soo Kim hit .302 in his first season, then Showalter in 2017 gave him far less AB’s. First season 300 AB’s, next season total 200AB’s, because he was being platooned with Hays. His power went down for some reason, 6 HR in his first season and then 1 in the next. It’s not easy to make the transition, but you need consistent playing time if you’re going to succeed.
Barry Bondito
That would explain why he tends to struggle with high velo pitches, but what would concern me is if we can all see that, why hasn’t his coaches made any changes??
I mean, one could argue, with the stats he’s putting up over there, you don’t fix what ain’t broken, but over here, he’s going to see alot more putchers who throw 95+.
Not to mention, with pitchers seemingly throwing more pitches higher in the zone, and high and tight, it could lead to scaring away some teams.
Me, personally, I’d have to put him through a workout, have him hit against a couple different high velocity guys, see how he does at first, and then see how well he’s able to at least try and adapt to making any adjustments…
That would really make me feel alot more comfortable about his future, if he was able to navigate his way through such an exercise successfully…
If not, I’m not so sure I’d be comfortable joining the bidding for him, and that’s because the bidding is likely to get pretty high, along with then having to also pay his club roughly at least 13mil for a 75mil contract + 15% of however much more he’s able to obtain higher than 75mil…(Those figures aren’t exact, but that is a pretty decent estimation after doing some quick mental math lol)
I honestly wouldn’t doubt it if a team were to easily pony up a contract north of $125mil+ for him, due to his age, all-around abilities, and his track record of overseas success..
Maybe I’m off, but it really only takes two teams to get those numbers up, and with Cohen around now, who knows!?! lol
What kind of contract could you guys see him signing??
If I’m his coach, what he might do in a different league wouldn’t interest me in the slightest. If he’s batting. 342, I’m just going to pat him on the back and say keep doing what you’re doing.
That assumes the pitching in both Korea and MLB is the same. As others have pointed out, it isn’t.
Yoshida, Verdugo, Jung-hoo 24’ OF for RS
You had me at “struggled a bit against high velocity.” Pass.
I am just glad someone finally is getting his name correct. Lee Jung-hoo has been an absolute pleasure to watch the last couple years and I have no doubt he will succeed in mlb.
also the kbo has become less and less hitter friendly, the days of everyone batting 350 with 50 homers is over in the kbo. so his stats are legit good.
best fielder on the team, always gets a big hit when it’s needed. he will not disappoint.