Korean shortstop Jung-Ho Kang posted on Monday, according to his agent, Alan Nero.
This morning at Citi Field, general manager Sandy Alderson told reporters the Mets were unlikely to bid on the 27 year old power hitting infielder.
The bidding for Lang is expected to be between $2-10 million dollars, with a contract ranging anywhere between $25 and $30 million for three years.
In addition to the Mets, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports the A’s, Giants, Cardinals, Padres, Yankees, Royals, Nationals and D-Backs have interest in Kang as a shortstop, second baseman or third baseman.
Keith Law of ESPN believes that Kang’s power can translate to the Majors, but his batting average will take a hit and be closer to .280.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYp6zt627oA
December 12
One of the things we learned in San Diego this week was that the Mets are taking a real hard look at Korean shortstop Jung-Ho Kang, or so they say. Sandy Alderson told reporters that he and his staff are considering placing a bid on Kang as soon as he’s posted and cleared by MLB.
When you couple that with something else Alderson said on Tuesday, it makes you wonder if there is more to this than the typical sound bytes we get whenever a new International phenom comes along.
When asked why the Mets have seemingly ignored the International market, the Mets GM responded, “We haven’t been in that category, but I expect we will be in that category soon.”
Obviously, what Sandy won’t tell you is that Fred and Jeff Wilpon have been unwilling to spend money like they once did when they were earning fictitious 15% earnings on all their investments. Back then they were willing to spend and even take risks because their monthly account statement were fatter.
But with Bernie Madoff behind bars and now faced with getting the same low interest rates as the rest of the country, and also trying to pay down incredible mounting debt, there’s no money to gamble and any risks are typically avoided.
Kang batted .354/.457/.733 clip with 39 home runs and 115 RBI in 116 games last season, and the 27-year old has played predominantly shortstop in Korea.
Alderson said that evaluating International free agents and trying to assess their ability to translate their talents at the major league level is quite the gamble and hard to gauge. And while many other teams are willing to spend $60-70 million to see if they struck gold, the Mets typically take on the role of bystanders.
But is there a new wrinkle here and are the Wilpons in a place where they may be willing to allow Alderson to exploit this market if he feels very strongly about a player like Kang?
Possibly.
The proof is in the pudding but it sounds to me like there’s some progress on this International front – albeit small.
Kang is expected to be posted next week and we’ll know for sure if the Mets are in fact turning a corner if they indeed do place a bid, especially given their stated desire to address shortstop.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be the winning bid, but any bid would be a sign of progress. We’ll see.
