Lee Jung-hoo (25) who is the grandson of the Wind in his bid to join the Major League Baseball (MLB) took an unexpected turn. The San Francisco Giants, which showed ceaseless interest during the season, offered to sign a long-term contract.

U.S. media outlets John Hayman of the New York Post and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported on their SNS on the 13th (Korea time) that Lee Jung-hoo signed a six-year, $113 million contract with San Francisco. After four seasons, he can opt out.

Lee Jung-hoo’s deal is the largest rookie contract ever to move from the KBO to the Major League Baseball. Earlier in late 2012, when Ryu Hyun-jin transferred from the Hanwha Eagles to the Los Angeles Dodgers through the posting system, he received six years and $36 million, which is more than the four-year, $28 million that Lee Jung-hoo received. 안전 토토사이트

San Francisco is one of the clubs that showed keen interest in Lee Jung-hoo. Since the Arizona Spring Camp this year, team leader-level scouts have been dispatched several times to observe Lee Jung-hoo. Even during the KBO League season, I watched Lee Jung-hoo closely regardless of home and away games such as Gocheok Sky Dome and Gwangju-Kia Champions Field. At the Gocheok Samsung match, Kiwoom’s last home game of the 2023 season, on the 10th, San Francisco general manager Pete Putilla visited in person and applauded the return match, even though Lee Jung-hoo only came in once.

An agent said through the American media outlet The Athletic, “Putila did not go to Korea to see Lee take the batter’s box. But it will move Lee’s heart. Lee was a superstar there, and he will have a chance to sign a team that treats him like a star player.”

It was also noteworthy that manager Bob Melvin, who made Kim Ha-sung (28) a Gold Glove infielder with the San Diego Padres, moved to San Francisco after the end of this season. NBC Sports Bay Area said, “Coach Melvin helped Kim Ha-sung succeed in San Diego. The success of Kim Ha-sung in the past two seasons is one of the reasons why San Francisco considers Lee Jung-hoo as a solution to center field.” It was judged that the know-how of Melvin, who has already successfully landed a Korean fielder in the big league, could also work for Lee Jung-hoo.

In response, local media in the U.S. constantly mentioned San Francisco as a strong candidate to recruit Lee Jung-hoo. MLB Network, a sports channel that broadcasts Major League Baseball throughout the U.S., reported that when it comes to analyzing Lee, “The San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees are interested in Lee Jung-hoo.” It has finally paid off.

Lee Jung-hoo, who joined the Nexen Heroes (currently Kiwoom) as the first KBO League rookie draft pick in 2017, has played steadily for seven seasons, posting a batting average of 0.340 in 884 games, 65 homers and 515 RBIs, 581 runs scored and 69 steals, and an on-base percentage of 0.407 with an on-base percentage of 0.491 OPS of 0.898. He ranks first in batting average among active players with 3,000 or more in total. Notably, he won the MVP title in the 2022 season with a batting average of 0.349 with 23 homers and 113 RBIs with an OPS of 0.996. A positive sign is that he has steadily increased his slugging capacity while maintaining his contact capabilities.

However, he only played in 86 games due to injury this season, and posted a batting average of 0.318, six homers and 45 RBIs with an OPS of 0.861. Lee made a late start by posting a batting average of 0.218 during the month of April, but showed a monthly batting average of 0.305 in May, 0.374 in June, and 0.435 in July. Eventually, Lee entered the batting average of .300 on June 11, and maintained his pace steadily. However, he was placed on the operating table after suffering an ankle injury in the match against Lotte Giants on July 22, and finished the season as a fan service member at the match against Gocheok Samsung on October 10, the end of the season.

Afterwards, Lee Jung-hoo applied for posting after the end of the season, and the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said on the 5th, “The Major League Secretariat informed 30 clubs that it had posted about Lee Jung-hoo.”