Korean OF Jung-Hoo Lee Will Be Posted to Free Agency, Giants and Yankees Interested
Korean outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee will be posted to MLB free agency Monday, the Kiwoom Heroes have officially announced.
Yonhap News Agency's Jeeho Yoo first reported the move. Lee's negotiating window – which maxes out at 30 days – is expected to begin Tuesday.
So far this offseason, the two most-discussed international free agents have been right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and left-handed pitcher Shota Imanaga out of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Lee is the top-ranked batter coming out of the KBO, though, and he already has a list of suitors that includes the San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees and New York Mets, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
The Giants have been tied to Lee since last February, while the Yankees were revealed as a contender for his services last month. Other teams are expected to be interested in Lee as well.
Lee won KBO Rookie of the Year in 2017, then league MVP in 2022. Over the course of his seven professional seasons in Korea, Lee is a .340 hitter with a .898 OPS, 65 home runs, 515 RBI, 69 stolen bases and 1,181 hits.
Season-ending ankle surgery cost Lee the second half of 2023, when he was batting .318 with an .860 OPS in July. With a three-month recovery timeline, according to MLB Trade Rumors, the 25-year-old is expected to be fully healthy in time for Spring Training.
Lee has also thrived on defense, as the 6-foot, 170-pound outfielder won five consecutive Golden Glove Awards from 2018 to 2022. Nearly two-thirds of Lee's innings in the field have come in center, which appears to be the simplest position for him to slide into stateside, considering his profile at the plate.
Although Lee hit 23 home runs in his recent MVP campaign, he has only exceeded seven homers in a season twice in his career. That lack of pure power is generally more palatable from a center fielder compared to a corner outfielder.
Either way, Lee and his agent, Scott Boras, are expected to challenge the record for the largest contract given to a KBO-posted Korean free agent.
The Los Angeles Dodgers gave pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu a six-year, $36 million deal in 2012. Three years ago, Lee's former teammate, Ha-Seong Kim, got a four-year, $28 million deal from the San Diego Padres and has since emerged as a Gold Glove winner and fan favorite.
International players over the age of 25 who have played fewer than nine professional seasons – such as Lee, Yamamoto and Imanaga – are subject to the posting system.
As a result, the Heroes will receive a cut of whatever deal Lee gets from an MLB team. Kiwoom will earn a release fee of 20% of the first $25 million of guaranteed money in Lee's contract, then 17.5% of the next $25 million and 15% of all amounts above $50 million.
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