Minnesota Twins sign Korean slugger Byung Ho Park to four-year deal

In the first big offseason splash for the Minnesota Twins, the team has signed Korean slugger Byung Ho Park from the Korean Baseball Organization.

Are you ready for a slugger? Hopefully you are because the Twins have signed one. On Tuesday, the team announced that they had agreed to a four-year deal, with a club option, for a total of $12.5 million.

Minnesota already paid $12.85 million dollars to Park’s now former KBO team just for the right to negotiate with the slugger. Totally just under $25 million total and only time will tell how we should judge that price tag.

If Park were already an MLB player with the stats he put up last year, he would have received well north of $25 million, but it’s still a mystery as to how Park will pan out in the MLB. Last season, at the age of 29, Park hit .343/.436/.714 with 53 homers and 146 RBI. If the Twins get any production that’s close to that, this will be a great deal for Minnesota.

1500ESPN has a breakdown of Park’s contract for the next handful of seasons:

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• 2016: $2.75 million
• 2017: $2.75 million
• 2018: $3 million
• 2019: $3 million
• 2020: $6.5 million (club option)

A $500,000 buyout will be paid to Park if the club declines 2020 club option.

If Park does produce the powerful numbers he had a season ago in Korea, the Twins would suddenly have a very powerful one-two punch in the middle of the order with Park and rising star Miguel Sano.

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