According to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, the Pittsburgh Pirates are the winning bidder for Korean shortstop Jung-Ho Kang. The Pirates' bid for Kang of $5,002,015 was accepted early Saturday morning by his Korea Professional Baseball team, the Nexen Heroes.
Kang is the first position player ever to be posted from the Korea Baseball Organization. If he signs, he will be the second South Korean athlete to make the transition to Major League Baseball via the posting process. Hyun-jin Ryu of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the first to do so, in 2012.
The Pirates now have an exclusive 30-day window with Kang and his agent, Alan Nero, to negotiate a contract. Nero reportedly seeks either of the following three contract scenarios:
- Four-year deal; $5 million per year
- Three-year deal; $5.5 million per year
- Two-year deal; $6 million per year
If no deal is reached between both parties prior to the signing period coming to a close, Kang must either return to the Heroes or sign within the Japanese Nippon Profession Baseball (NPB) league. He would also have to wait until November 1, 2015 to be posted again. If the Heroes decide not to re-post Kang, he would not be an unrestricted free agent until after the 2016 season. Then, he would be allowed to freely sign with any MLB team without the posting process.
Jeeho Yoo, the sports writer for Yonhap News Agency who first published the story of the auction's results, shared to me some interesting analysis about Kang. Yoo believes that Kang will not hit even half as many home runs as he did in Korea this season, because of his "pretty big swing and a leg kick". Yoo later stated, however that Kang has "such raw power, a rarity for middle infielders anywhere, be it MLB or KBO."
Kang's "raw power" has surely reflected in his production numbers. Over the past two seasons he has combined for 62 home runs and 213 RBIs. Kang's home run (40) and RBI (117) totals in 2014 both set single-season records for a KBO shortstop. In 902 career games, he has a batting average of (.298) with 916 hits, 193 doubles, 10 triples, 139 home runs, 545 RBIs, and 51 stolen bases.
Had the Phillies won the bid for Jung-Ho Kang, he would have been the likely successor to Jimmy Rollins. Instead, Heyman writes how he may fit-in with the Buccos:
Pittsburgh wasn't seen as a likely contender for Kang since its infield looks pretty solid, especially after picking up Sean Rodriguez to back up shortstop Jordy Mercer. It also has Neil Walker for second base and Josh Harrison for third base. But Kang has big-time power, and he hit 40 home runs in 117 games for the Nexen Heroes last year, and he is seen as versatile.
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is a contributor to Philliedelphia.com.
