Pittsburgh Pirates Rumor Mill runs on Hyun-soo Kim, should be focused on Dae-ho Lee
After an active early off-season involving several teams scouting the KBO, and Wednesday’s spectacular sprint to prognosticate and report on the eventual signing of unrestricted free-agent Hyun-soo Kim to the Baltimore Orioles (to which this blog contributed), it’s safe to say that Major League Baseball is becoming obsessed with Korea.
After the Pirates’ chance signing of Jung Ho Kang last season netted remarkable results, teams throughout the league have been scrambling to find a similar talent in the Korean market to pad their rosters for the 2016 season. An early December bidding war resulted in the Twins posting a fee of $12.85 million to the Nexen Heroes of the KBO to negotiate a deal with Byung-ho Park, and eventually signing him as their DH with a four-year, $12 million contract. Then, on Wednesday, Baltimore signed Kim to a two-year, $7 million deal. All eyes are now on the “Land of the Morning Calm” and, many believe, the Pirates, to see who the next import may be.
All reports point to Dae-ho Lee – a 33 year-old first baseman who spent 11 seasons in the KBO (2001-2011), where he was one of the most popular players, before heading to Japan’s NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball), where he played for the Orix Buffaloes until 2013. He then played for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in 2014 and 2015 and opted out of his contract at the end of the season with hopes of signing with an MLB team, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
An unrestricted international free agent, Lee is not under any league or team control, meaning teams wishing to negotiate a contract with him may do so without the posting fee required of Kang, Park, and other KBO players.
Lee was one of a few Korean baseball players to have representation at the MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville, although he was the only one to actually attend, according to Jeeho Yoo, sportswriter for Korean news agency Yonhap News. He also reported that Lee met with four clubs while there and that he was “pleasantly surprised” the clubs knew so much about him. Other media outlets report that Lee had a face-to-face meeting with Pirates GM Neal Huntington while there as well.
The 6’4” first baseman, who NPB lists at 220 lbs. (although other stats book him in closer to 280 lbs.), earned the nickname “Big Boy” by Korean fans, with Korean-American publication The Korean Times comparing him to the Red Sox’ David Ortiz in size and power. Yoo reports that Lee does not discuss his weight.
Last season for the Hawks, Lee batted .282/.368/.524 and boasted 31 homers and 98 RBIs. He played in 141 of the 143 regular season games, and his team went on to win the Japanese Series, with Lee being named the MVP. In his four years with NPB, Lee batted .293/.370/.486.
Lee set a professional baseball world record in 2010 for hitting homers in nine consecutive games while playing for the Lotte Giants in the KBO.
NBC’s Hardball Talk reported Tuesday that Lee has “received multiple offers” from MLB clubs. Yoo revealed that Lee’s representatives are reportedly looking for a three-year deal at $5 million per year (Lee walked away from $4.9 million to play for the Hawks in 2016), but teams are balking at the third year, instead making offers closer to the two-year, $2 – $2.5 million range. That’s understandable given his age as well as the relative unknowns related to the time it would take Lee to adjust to playing ball at an MLB level. Just because Kang made a smooth transition with the Pirates does not mean every player from the KBO or NPB will in the future.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Travis Sawchik and Rob Biertempfel both report the Pirates expressed interest in Lee and it’s easy to see why. He would come on the cheap in an ever-tightening market for first basemen, which would enable the Pirates to continue searching for that elusive starting pitcher.
On Thursday evening, the Pirates announced that they acquired 27 year-old RH infielder Jason Rogers from the Brewers for OF Keon Broxton and minor league pitcher Trey Supak. Rogers played primarily as a first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers but seems stronger as a bench player with an ability to play at the corners than as the answer to the Pirates’ needs for a bona fide first baseman.
Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington has stated that if the season were to start today, Rogers would have a shot at an everyday starting job:
Neal Huntington on Jason Rogers: “He’s in the mix at first base if the season were to start tomorrow.”
— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) December 18, 2015
Huntington’s words may end up being very telling indeed. The team already has a reliable platoon-mate at first with Mike Morse – which would enable Lee to gradually come up to speed in the majors. This could give the Pirates either more time to work on first base prospect Josh Bell’s defense – which still has a ways to go – or to make a mid-season adjustment if they feel Lee needs more help acclimating to Major League Baseball. The Pirates also have the advantage of having already established a protocol for onboarding players from the KBO; they know what they did well with Kang and what they needed to do better.
Kang himself would presumably provide a wealth of assistance to his new teammate as well, likely making the transition easier. In interviews, Lee has remarked that his switching from playing in his native South Korea to Japan has given him a unique outlook on playing as a non-national in a new league – experience that would also help him in adjusting to playing on any MLB team. But with the Bucs, he would also walk into a clubhouse filled with guys who have experience playing with a Korean teammate, who know some Korean words (hopefully Kang has taught them more than just the curse words), and that know the kind of transition athletics-wise Lee will have to go through.
On the negative side, aside from his age, Lee’s defense is sluggish – likely due to his size – and his fielding is in need of some tuning up, something he admits to wanting to work on. The Korean Times calls him an “average” first baseman, although it’s hard to be average and net MVP honors in any professional baseball organization. Additionally, he bats right-handed – and with the Neil Walker trade and Pedro Alvarez’s non-tendering, the Pirates desperately need more left-handed hitters in the lineup.
Yonhap reports that Lee’s people feel that contract talks could go into January. Stay tuned; it could be a very long off season!
Thank you for checking out Pirates Breakdown! Please follow us on twitter and jump into the hot stove conversation with us!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
