The Pittsburgh Pirates won the rights to exclusively negotiate with Korean shortstop Jung-ho Kang back in December, but have yet to strike a deal. In San Diego, the Padres have made their deal official with starting pitcher Josh Johnson.
On December 20 the Nexen Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization accepted the Pirates' $5,002,015 bid for Kang, which gave Pittsburgh 30 days to reach an agreement with the 27-year-old. With just under two weeks left in the negotiating window, Kang's agent Alan Nero weighed in on the matter.
"At this point, I feel confident we'll come to an agreement," Nero told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Wednesday. "The process has been very positive. [General manager Neal Huntington] has tried very hard to basically come to the table with an offer."
Kang had a career season in 2014 with the Heroes after slashing .356/.459/.739 with 40 home runs and 117 RBIs in 117 games. He played shortstop in Korea, but scouts have said he would translate to more of a second or third baseman in the MLB. It will be interesting to see how the situation transpires because the Buccos have Neil Walker at second, Jordy Mercer at shortstop and Josh Harrison at third base. If the two sides don't reach an agreement by January 20, Kang will return to the Heroes and the bid money will go back to the Pirates.
On the West Coast, the San Diego Padres and starting pitcher Josh Johnson have finalized the one-year contract that was agreed upon more than two weeks ago. Johnson signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the team prior to last season but did not pitch for the team because he underwent the second Tommy John surgery of his career.
As a result, San Diego will give Johnson a base salary of just $1 million in 2015 and he'll have the opportunity to earn $6.25 million in incentives, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com. Prior to the financial details being disclosed it was known the deal would be incentive-laden since the oft-injured Johnson has made only 56 starts since the 2011 season. Brock notes the right-hander will earn $500,000 for his fifth start, $1 million for his 10th, $500,000 for his 15th, $1 million for his 20th and $250,000 for each start thereafter (Nos. 21-33).
He'll likely compete for a spot in the back end of the rotation along with Brandon Morrow, Robbie Erlin, Matt Wisler and others.