Last Monday, the Pittsburg Pirates revealed that they had won the right to negotiate with KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) star player Jung-Ho Kang. The Pirates have invested a little over 5 million dollars on the Korean player who is believed by many in Korea as one of the best shortstops in the history of Korean baseball. Kang’s KBO team, the Seoul Nexen Heroes, had almost immediately approved of the Pirates’ bid for their franchise player and is currently negotiating regarding the details of Kang’s upcoming MLB debut.
27-year-old Kang has become the first KBO field player to win a spot in a Major League team, and the second KBO player to do so after Hyun Jin Ryu (Los Angeles Dodgers) 2 years ago. Although there have been previous cases of Korean field players in the Major League, they had all started their professional careers here in United States. Right now, it is believed that Kang’s agent, Alan Nero (Octagon Baseball) is discussing with Pirates representatives.
Because Kang has no real “predecessors” that went in his direction, many have expressed deep concerns regarding both his pay check and his performance in the Big League. There were only 2 previous Korean field players in the MLB. One of them is Shin Soo Choo who just ended a disastrous 2014 season with the Texas Rangers. Despite a somewhat disappointing year, Choo is the first Korean to hit a 300 average at bat, and the first Asian player to hit 20+ homeruns and steal 20+ bases. Before Ryu, Choo was considered to be the most successful Korean MLB player after Chan Ho Park.
Another case was Hee-Seop Choi (former Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers). Choi had a career high of 15 homers in the 2005 season right before he was called to play for the Korean national team for the first World Baseball Classic in 2006. Choi is currently back in Korea trying to overcome a number of injuries while working to continue his professional career.
The only other Asian MLB field players are those that came over from Japan’s NPB (Nippon Pro Baseball) represented by the legendary Ichiro Suzuki (New York Yankees). Another recent case is outfielder “Nori” Aoki (former Tokyo Yakult Swallows and current Kansas City Royals). Japanese infielders however have shown somewhat disappointing results. One such case was Hiroyuki Nakajima, a shortstop for the Seibu Lions. Nakajima, like Kang, was a power-hitting short stop, but for 2 seasons was unable to show up at a single at bat in a Major League game. Only weeks ago Nakajima was reported to have returned to Japan to play for the Hanshin Tigers. Cases like these raised doubts about the capabilities of Asian infielders, particularly their ability to play defense with the glove.
Kang’s agent Alan Nero however noted Kang’s report card form the 2014 KBO season; his slugging percentage of .733 and 115 season RBIs. A KBO season sees only 117 games every year, and yet Kang could still pull off such numbers. It seems the Pirates thought such offensive capabilities could not go unnoticed. Kang also does not have to be limited to playing shortstop in the MLB, with many experts pointing out that he could be moved to either 2nd or even 3rd base.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Nexen Heroes (Kang’s Korean team) is seeking to find a replacement for Kang, but a shortstop that could hit 25 homeruns and a .300 average every season is not easy to come by.
