Report: KBO’s SSG Landers Request Status Check On Kwang Hyun Kim
The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization have formally requested a status check on free-agent lefty Kwang Hyun Kim, tweets South Korean reporter Daniel Kim.
Teams from the Korea Baseball Organization and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball must formally submit requests for status checks to negotiate with Major League free agents, just as MLB teams must tender status checks on a KBO or NPB free agent if they plan to pursue contract negotiations. At this point, there’s little to indicate that serious negotiations have taken place, but the fact that there’s interest is of note. Kim spent parts of 12 seasons pitching with the Landers — then named the SK Wyverns — from 2007-19 before signing a two-year, $8MM contract with the Cardinals in advance of the 2020 season.
As detailed here recently, Kim stands out as a perhaps unheralded but nevertheless intriguing post-lockout option for big league teams in need of rotation help — if he remains unsigned by that point. Kim dealt with some relatively minor injury issues this past season but has been a solid option both in the St. Louis rotation and bullpen, pitching to a 2.97 ERA with a 17.2% strikeout rate, an 8.4% walk rate and a 48.1% ground-ball rate in 145 2/3 Major League innings.
The extent to which Kim is seriously contemplating a return to South Korea at this juncture isn’t clear. He’s been dead set on continuing his MLB run since the 2021 season ended, but it’d be somewhat understandable if the ongoing lockout and lack of progress in talks at least has him mulling the possibility of returning home. He’s certainly had an odd MLB tenure, as his debut came during the shortened 2020 season (and the strict Covid-19 protocols that were in place throughout that summer) and was followed by a 2021 campaign that still began with limited fan attendance and had plenty of protocols throughout the season.
From a purely financial standpoint, it’d be most prudent to grind out the remainder of the lockout. Major League teams will offer considerably larger sums than their KBO counterparts; players on the very top end of the KBO pay scale generally earn $2MM to $2.5MM annually. Back in December, outfielder Sung-bum Na signed a six-year deal worth roughly $12.6MM total, which marked the largest deal in KBO history. Based on the fact that Kim earned $4MM annually with the Cardinals before he’d had any success in the Majors, he ought to be able to command a decidedly larger sum this time around if he’s willing to wait things out.
It’s certainly possible that Kim could settle for a one-year deal in a familiar setting with his old teammates, then aim for a return effort next winter. However, he’d be 34 years old at that point, and he’d run the risk of an injury or downturn in performance against KBO lineups — either of which could considerably weigh down his earning power.
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We recently gave our MLB agency database a reboot. Check it out here! This is a basic, mobile-friendly database where you can search for an MLB player’s agency, and also see all of the players listed under a given agency. Even though we stopped covering every agency change in posts on MLBTR, we do intend to keep this database as up-to-date as possible.
Recently, we updated the players listed in the database to include anyone who played in the Majors from 2019-21. That means we have some gaps in our information. I know many agents read this site, and we’d appreciate it if you check out who we have listed for your agency and contact us with any updates. You can reach out through our contact form or just contact me, Tim Dierkes, directly. Below I’ve listed 613 players for whom we’re seeking their agency.
Follow The NBA Trade Deadline At Hoops Rumors
MLB lockout got you down? The NBA trade deadline is less than seven hours away, and our sister site Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors on Twitter) has all the latest news and rumors for each of the league’s 30 teams!
We’ve already seen several major trades in the past week, with CJ McCollum headed to the Pelicans in a seven-player trade, and the Kings shocking the basketball world by sending rising star Tyrese Haliburton to the Pacers for two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis as part of a six-player swap.
Amid a nine-game losing streak, former MVP James Harden has reportedly grown increasingly frustrated with the Nets – will he be traded for disgruntled Sixers star Ben Simmons? Could a trade between the defending champion Bucks and the Celtics be brewing? Will the Pacers and Kings continue to reshape their rosters? The struggling Lakers are feeling urgency to make moves — will they be able to pull something off before 2:00pm CT?
For the latest updates on those stories and more, check out Hoops Rumors today! Last season saw a total of 24 in-season trades, including 16 on deadline day alone, and this season could be just as action-packed! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @HoopsRumors.
MLB Planning, Subject To Union Approval, To Reopen Clubhouse Access For Credentialed Media
Major League Baseball has informed the Baseball Writers Association of America that it is planning to reopen pre-game and post-game clubhouse access to credentialed media, reports Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Notably, that course of action still remains subject to approval by the MLB Players Association.
MLB hasn’t afforded clubhouse access to credentialed media in either of the past two seasons on account of COVID-19 concerns. Clubhouse access was suspended in March 2020, with reporters generally limited to conducting interviews via phone or video chat that year. Fully-vaccinated members of the BBWAA were permitted to again meet with players and coaches on the field midway through the 2021 season, but they were not allowed entrance into the clubhouse. Tom Haudricourt tweets that clubhouse access in 2022 and beyond, if approved by the union, is likely to again encompass vaccination and masking requirements.
If the MLBPA signs off, the return of clubhouse access figures to be a welcome development for reporters. Expanding individual access to players and avoiding possible technological difficulties associated with speaking over video chat are among the potential benefits for reporters speaking with players and staff for stories. Shortly after MLB first suspended clubhouse access, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote about the advantages he felt clubhouse access afforded reporters, which he opined has a trickle-down benefit for fans consuming their stories.
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Tired of the MLB lockout? The NBA trade deadline is less than 48 hours away, and our sister site Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors on Twitter) has all the latest news and rumors for each of the league’s 30 teams!
We’ve already seen two major trades today, with CJ McCollum reportedly heading to the Pelicans in a seven-player trade, and the Kings shocking the basketball world by sending rising star Tyrese Haliburton to the Pacers for two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis in a six-player swap.
Amid an eight-game losing streak, former MVP James Harden has reportedly grown increasingly frustrated with the Nets – will he be traded for disgruntled Sixers star Ben Simmons? Could a trade between the defending champion Bucks and the Celtics be brewing? Will the Pacers continue to reshape their roster by dealing the league’s leader in blocked shots per game, Myles Turner? Will the Lakers be able to make moves to assist aging superstar LeBron James?
For the latest updates on those stories and more, check out Hoops Rumors today! Last season saw a total of 24 in-season trades, including 16 on deadline day alone, and this season could be just as action-packed! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @HoopsRumors.
Frontier League Announces Implementation Of “Sudden Death” Extra-Innings Rule
Earlier this week, the Frontier League announced an alteration to its extra-innings format. The 15-team Frontier League is an independent circuit designated as an official partner league of Major League Baseball.
Beginning next season, the Frontier League will implement a system to ensure that marathon games don’t go into effect. The first extra inning — the tenth in regular contests, the eighth on days with scheduled seven-inning doubleheaders — will proceed according to International Tiebreaker Rules. The ITB rule involves placing a runner on second base to start the inning, as MLB has done over the past two years. The Frontier League’s rule change comes if the game remains tied after that frame, as the 11th inning (or 9th in doubleheaders) will proceed in the “Sudden Death” format.
Before the start of the inning, the manager of the home team will decide whether to play offense or defense. The offensive team will begin the inning with a free runner — the previous batter in the lineup — on first base. Picking up wherever they’re scheduled to hit in the lineup, the offensive team has three outs to score the runner. If the runner scores, the offensive team wins. If they don’t score, the defensive team wins.
In recent seasons, MLB has asked its partner leagues to experiment with rules changes it could try in the future. That isn’t the case here, though, and there’s no indication MLB is considering implementing this rule down the road. According to the Frontier League, the idea was first proposed by one of its former managers and deliberated upon by various league skippers and administrators.
As J.J. Cooper of Baseball America writes, independent leagues face outsized challenges in managing pitcher workloads compared to those facing MLB teams. Independent teams have stricter roster limits and face the possibility of losing players to affiliated ball. Without a farm system to call upon in the event of a marathon game that taxes a pitching staff, independent leagues have tried creative ways to limit length of extra-inning contests.
Last season, the Frontier League and Pioneer League broke ties with a Home Run Derby swing-off. For the Frontier League, at least, that didn’t sit well with managers. “As fan friendly as that was, it just didn’t feel right. The whole thing was decided by how good your (batting practice) thrower is,” Evansville Otters manager Andy McCauley told Cooper. “You got eight pitches. If you didn’t have a guy throwing strikes, you were in trouble. … At least now, there is some baseball strategy still involved other than just eight swings of the bat.“
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How Many $100 Million Contracts Are Left This Offseason?
23 years ago, the Dodgers signed righty Kevin Brown to a seven-year, $105MM deal in advance of his age-34 season. It was the first baseball contract to break the $100MM barrier. The deal famously included a charter jet to fly Brown’s family from Georgia to Los Angeles 12 times per season. Sandy Alderson, then working for the commissioner’s office, called the deal “an affront and an insult to the commissioner of baseball.” Rivals were also displeased with Dodgers GM Kevin Malone, believing other bidders were not close.
Due to inflation and increases in MLB revenue, $300MM is now the top of the market round number, and nine players have crossed that barrier. $100MM is the realm of the very good, not superstar territory. Still, that round number still holds some psychological significance. This winter Corey Seager signed for $325MM, while Marcus Semien, Javier Baez, Max Scherzer, Robbie Ray, and Kevin Gausman have signed in the $110-175MM range.
That’s six $100MM contracts so far this winter, which we haven’t seen since seven players broke the barrier following the 2015 season. How many more $100M deals will be struck once the lockout ends, with 20 of our top 50 free agents still on the board?
There’s a general expectation that we’ll see a free agent frenzy of sorts when the lockout ends, with the possibility that most signings will have to occur in a period of less than one month. That pressure should make for an action-packed spring training/hot stove period. In theory, we could see increased spending once new competitive balance tax thresholds are known and 15 National League designated hitter jobs are potentially added. But for the most part, I think teams already have an idea of what they think each free agent is worth, and I don’t think that’s going to change much post-lockout.
I see a total of eight remaining free agents with at least some plausible chance to reach $100MM, if I’m generous. Carlos Correa and Freddie Freeman are locks. Other candidates include Kris Bryant, Trevor Story, and Nick Castellanos, who were all projected by MLBTR in November to top the $100MM barrier. We’ll also throw Kyle Schwarber, Carlos Rodon, and Seiya Suzuki in the mix, even though they seem like long shots. In the poll below, vote for all the players you think will sign a contract worth $100MM or more before the season begins. Click here for a direct link to the poll, and here for the results.