Last year it was the Pittsburgh Pirates who were labeled as the "mystery team" that submitted the winning bid for Korean shortstop Jung-ho Kang. This year the Minnesota Twins surprised the MLB in their lucrative bid for another Korean slugger.
Nexen Heroes first baseman Byung-ho Park is the player the Twins earned exclusive rights to speak with and they'll now have 30 days to negotiate a contract with the 29-year-old and his agent, Alan Nero. The $12.85 million bid was reported on Friday, but it was unknown which MLB team had submitted it.
Daniel Kim of KBS Sports in Korea broke the news on Monday.
Twins입니다!!! Twins won the bidding for Park Byung Ho!
— Daniel Kim 대니얼 김 (@DanielKimW) November 9, 2015
Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports also confirmed the news.
Source: Minnesota Twins won rights to Byung-Ho Park with $12.85 million posting bid.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 9, 2015
And then the Twins made the official announcement.
OFFICIAL: @Twins win negotiating rights with Byung-ho Park. pic.twitter.com/RoqVGRVQXu
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) November 9, 2015
Rumors linked Park to multiple MLB teams before it was discovered Minnesota won the bid.
Park has been one of the best hitters in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) over the past four seasons. He hit .343/.436/.714 with 129 runs scored, 53 home runs and 146 RBI in 140 games with the Heroes in 2015, which was the best campaign of his career.
Park began his KBO career at the age of 18 with the LG Twins. He didn't break out until his age-25 season (2012) with the Heroes when he hit .290/.393/.561 with 76 runs scored, 31 home runs, 105 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 133 games.
The Twins' $12.85 million bid is much higher than the Pirates' $5 million bid for Jung-ho Kang last offseason. Pittsburgh also signed Kang to a four-year, $11 million deal, which was considered a bargain since he was among the top candidates for NL Rookie of the Year. His breakout performance arguably set the precedent for future negotiations with star Korean players.
Kang's power numbers in Korea were impressive, but they were nowhere near Park's production over the past four years. Since 2012, Park has hit 173 home runs and 492 RBI.
It'll be interesting to see how much Park signs for if he were to reach a deal with the Twins.
It's also worth pondering where Park will fit in on the Twins' roster. Joe Mauer is currently the team's first baseman and rookie Miguel Sano also plays the position, although he logged nearly all of his games at DH this past season.
The Pirates' situation was similar when they signed Kang, as there was a logjam in their infield. However, it ended up working out when Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison got injured.
Stay tuned for updates on Park and the Twins.
