Reports are coming out that star Korean outfielder Ah-Seop Son is positioning himself for a move to Major League Baseball this off-season.
He plans to enter the posting system this off-season in order to make the leap from the Korea Baseball Organization to Major League Baseball.
Korean players must be placed in the posting system, upon which all 30 MLB teams may submit bling bids for the player. Â The team with the highest bid then has 30 days to negotiate a contract with the player. Â If the team and Son aren’t able to reach a deal, the posting fee is returned to the MLB team and Son remains in the KBO for the year.
Players in the KBO become full unrestricted free agents following their ninth season in the KBO, for Son, that would be following the 2017 season.
A 27 year-old left-handed hitter, Son hit .324 with a .412 OBP, 12 home runs and 11 stolen bases this season. Â He’s hit .306 or better over the last 6 seasons in the KBO. Â He’s totaled an averaged of a .330 batting average with a .405 OBP during that time.
Last season the Pittsburgh Pirates won the rights to negotiate with Jung Ho Kang with a 5M bid. Â The parties then agreed upon a 4-year 11M contract, which proved to be one of the biggest steals of the off-season. Â The 28-year-old Kang is hitting .287 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs for the Pirates. Â Given his success, I would expect the winning bid for Son will be, at least, double Kang’s 5 million dollar fee.
