Minnesota Twins win negotiating rights with Byung-ho Park
The biggest splash so far of the very young MLB offseason was splashed on Monday and the Minnesota Twins created the splash. It was announced that the Twins were the team to place the winning bid on Korean slugger Byung-ho Park.
OFFICIAL: @Twins win negotiating rights with Byung-ho Park. pic.twitter.com/RoqVGRVQXu
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) November 9, 2015
In international signings, MLB teams have to bid to have the rights to negotiate with the player. The Twins put in a winning $12.85 million bid to negotiate with Park who is currently a member of Nexen Heroes of the KBO.
The Heroes announced on Friday that they had accepted a bid, but it was not known until Monday morning which MLB team had won the anonymous bidding. The Twins do not have to pay that bidding price unless they sign Park away from the Heroes which is not a given at this point. The winning bid only gives Minnesota a 30-day window to negotiate and sign Park to a major or minor league contract, but the Twins are the only team that can have conversations with him.
Park had a really good stat-line this past season in the highest baseball league in Korea. In 140 games, Park hit .343/.436/.714 with 53 home runs and 146 RBI.
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There is definitely excitement around what the Twins could potentially have with adding the Korean slugger, but he is still limited defensively and really is only a first baseman/designated hitter which further complicates the whole Trevor Plouffe/Joe Mauer/Miguel Sano mess. The potential signing of Park does make more sense why the Twins will have Sano playing some outfield this winter.
1500ESPN points to a prediction that if Park signs, he’ll sign for about five years and $40 million. Stay tuned to Sporting Sota over the next 30 days, and beyond, to see if the Twins can nail down a deal with their man.
Next: Miguel Sano to the outfield?
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