via Hiwoom Heroes
Korean baseball star Jung-hoo Lee will be posted by his team, the Kiwoom Heroes, after the 2023 season, the team announced over the weekend. He’s generally viewed as the top KBO player who will transition to MLB over the next couple of seasons.
Over six seasons and over 3,500 plate appearances, Lee has slashed .342/.407/.495/.902. He won the 2022 KBO MVP award after racking up 193 hits, 23 home runs, and 113 RBIs in 142 games. He had a .996 OPS on the year while leading his team to an appearance in the Korean Series, where the Heroes ultimately lost four games to two to the SSG Landers. (Lee had seven hits across the six games.) He also won Rookie of the Year back in 2017.
Lee will be just 25 years old when he gets posted.
As a hitter, striking out is a rarity for the outfielder. He’s struck out less than 8% of the time overall in his career, and that number was a paltry 5.1% in 2022. He’s an elite contact hitter, but his walk rate has remained at a decent 10% given how much contact he makes. He has just 59 career home runs, and nearly 40% of them came just last season.
“After some internal discussions, we agreed to respect the player’s intent to play in Major League Baseball,” the Heroes said. “We will provide whatever support necessary for the player.”
As MLB.com pointed out, Lee expressed his dreams of playing in MLB in a statement by the team.
“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,” Lee said in a statement released by the club. “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.”
Once posted, Lee will be able to sign a large deal with teams. He won’t have an amateur status because he’ll have played seven seasons of professional ball in the KBO and is at least 25 years old.
As MLB Trade Rumors points out, whoever signs Lee will owe “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.” This is different from a player like Kodai Senga, who was a free agent when he moved to MLB. He didn’t have to be posted to make the transition.
