The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Korean shortstop Jung Ho Kang earlier in the offseason, paying a $5 million posting fee and then signing him to a four-year, $11 million deal. With no intention of sending him down to the minors, where will the Pirates play the 27-year-old?
Kang received a big round of applause when his name was announced during an intrasquad game on Monday and he's hopeful to have more support from the Pirates' fan base. However, the team's infielders might not be too happy with his presence, especially since there's a good chance he takes at-bats away from a few others.
General manager Neil Huntington said the acquisition of Kang was a 'calculated risk' likely because the Korean doesn't have a definitive position in the MLB and will be used in different areas of the infield. He was a shortstop in South Korea, but scouts didn't seem to think he would be able to play the position on a daily basis and instead deemed him more of a second or third baseman. However, with Neil Walker at second base, it's unlikely Kang will challenge him for the starting job in 2015.
"In the near term, in 2015, it's highly unlikely Kang out-performs Walker to take his job," writes Travis Sawchik of TribLive.com. "Walker won the Silver Slugger last season, leading NL second baseman in homers. There are a number of positive trend lines with Walker over the last three years: he's cut his strikeouts, upped his walks, hit more flyballs and has had more of those flyballs carry for home runs."
"As I wrote a couple weeks ago in The Starting Nine in the print edition, for me, Kang is a greater threat in 2015 to take playing time away from the Pirates' left-side-of-the-diamond infielders."
This could compromise the at-bat totals for shortstop Jordy Mercer and third baseman Josh Harrison. Mercer logged 144 games at shortstop in 2014 and slashed .255/.305/.387 with 56 runs scored, 12 home runs and 55 RBIs. On the other hand, Harrison played all over the place (LF, RF, 3B, SS and 2B) and registered an All-Star campaign thanks to a .315/.347/.490 stat line with 77 runs scored, 13 home runs, 52 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 143 games.
Sawchik believes Mercer "still has some proving to do" while Harrison could be forced into a "super utility role" given his defensive versatility. If Kang can show half of the offense he boasted with the Nexen Heroes in 2014 (.356/.459/.739/1.198 with 103 runs scored, 40 home runs and 117 RBIs in 117 games), he's almost guaranteed to challenge both Mercer and Harrison at their positions.
Kang has already made a good impression in the clubhouse by handing out boxes of his favorite Korean ramen soup to his teammates. However, he could be challenging some of them for a starting job over the next month.