
The San Francisco Giants and center fielder Jung Hoo Lee reached an agreement on Tuesday for a six-year, $113 million contract, as sources told ESPN. This is the largest sum of money for an Asian-born hitter entering Major League Baseball and is a crucial addition for a Giants team that has struggled with free-agent issues in recent years.
With his father, Jong Beom Lee, considered the best all-around player in the KBO during the 1990s, Lee has been a mainstay in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and is treated like a member of the royal family. Known as “Grandson of the Wind” (his father was referred to as “Son of the Wind”), Lee’s guarantee surpasses the $90 million that Masataka Yoshida received from the Boston Red Sox the previous season and comes with an opt-out clause following the fourth season.
The news was first reported by The New York Post.
Ha-Seong Kim, Lee’s close friend who plays infield for the San Diego Padres, had been a part of the team for a long time. However, the Giants, who were thought to be long shots for Ohtani, intensified their pursuit of Lee after Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers this past week. The last two years have seen attempts to sign big free agents either thwarted (with Aaron Judge) or abandoned (with Carlos Correa agreeing to a 13-year deal with San Francisco only to have it ruined by a botched physical).
Although Lee does not belong in the same league as Ohtani, Judge, or Correa, the left-handed hitter has a lifetime batting average of.340, with a peak of.360 in 2021, and has batted over 300 in every KBO season. He played 86 games in 2023, slashing 318/.406/.455 with six home runs and 45 RBIs, before suffering a fractured left ankle.
After making his professional debut for the Nexen/Kiwoom Heroes in 2017, at the age of 18, he went straight from high school to hit 318 and won the league’s Rookie of the Year award. Lee had his best season in 2022 when he was named the KBO MVP and hit 349/.421/.575 in 142 games with a career-high 23 home runs and more walks (66) than strikeouts (32).
Lee’s exceptional contact ability ought to facilitate his major league transition. During the previous two seasons, Lee struck out just 5.4% of the time when he was in an open stance, which is when he first takes a step forward with his front foot and then stops as he starts his swing. In contrast, the KBO average was 18.2% and the MLB average was 22.7% in 2023.
Assuming Lee heals his ankle injury without any problems, some analysts think he has the quickness to play a reliable center field role; others, however, see him more as a right fielder, which puts more strain on the bat. Along with his lack of power this season, he also had a ground ball rate of about 60%, which would put him ahead of Tim Anderson among MLB regulars in 2023.
Nevertheless, the Giants believed that Lee, who is still only 25 years old, has the potential to be an All-Star player. In the best-case scenario, he develops into an above-average OBP hitter and a top-of-the-order hitter who hits close to 300. He would rather not experience Kim’s learning curveāthe final Korean celebrity to join MLB.
Kim struggled in his Padres debut season of 2021, recording an OPS of.622, but over the next two seasons, he improved to 708 and then 749. Kim, Lee’s teammate with the Heroes, had a career batting average of.294 in Korea and hit with more power than Lee did in the KBO despite having lower batting averages.