With Shohei Ohtani (28) deciding to join the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Major League Baseball free agency market is about to get moving. The future of Korean outfielder Lee Jung-hoo (25) is also becoming clearer. The San Diego Padres are among the favorites, but nothing has been decided yet. Losing out on Ohtani will allow the San Francisco Giants to spend more money.
The American ‘The Athletic’ reported on the 11th (below) that ‘San Diego has confirmed that it has not met with Ohtani during free agency, unlike six years ago’ and that ‘a source familiar with the club said a deal with free agent center fielder Lee Jung-hoo is not imminent’.
‘San Diego has long been interested in Lee, and has two outfield spots open,’ wrote reporter Dennis Lin. In particular, infielder Kim Ha-seong is a close former teammate of Lee’s who could directly help him make the transition to the United States. Park Chan-ho, an advisor to San Diego’s baseball operations team, also explained that the Padres are a favorite to sign Lee, saying that three years ago, Kim helped San Diego beat out the Toronto Blue Jays for a four-year, $28 million contract.
San Diego, which traded left fielder Juan Soto and center fielder Trent Grisham to the New York Yankees last week to fill two outfield spots, also lowered its payroll to around $156 million, setting the stage for the signing of Lee.
However, the deal is not a done deal yet, according to Lin. “The San Francisco Giants are also interested in Lee, and they probably have more money to spend than San Diego,” he said, adding that the team could use the money left over from losing Ohtani to sign Lee. 월카지노
‘Industry insiders say they wouldn’t be surprised to see Lee sign a contract close to Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida, who signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Boston Red Sox last offseason,’ he said.