“Leaders in the race to sign Lee”

The San Diego Padres are leading the race to sign Kiwoom Heroes’ Lee Jung-hoo (25).

“San Diego appears to have become the frontrunner in the race to sign Lee Jung-hoo,” the New York Post reported on Aug. 8 (KST).

Lee is a South Korean slugger with a career batting average of .344 (3476-for-1181), 65 home runs, 515 RBIs, and an OPS of .898 in 884 games in the KBO. He peaked last season when he batted .349 (193-for-553) with 23 home runs, 113 RBIs and a .996 OPS in 142 games. He won five batting titles (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and RBI) and the league MVP, making him arguably the best hitter in South Korea.

After officially declaring for the major leagues ahead of this year’s season, Lee’s season came to an early end when he underwent surgery for an ankle injury. However, he still managed to put up solid numbers in 86 games, batting .301 with 105 hits in 330 at-bats, six home runs, 45 RBIs, 온라인카지노사이 and an OPS of .861, which didn’t change the way major league clubs viewed him. Local media outlets in the U.S. noted Lee’s ability to make contact and his defense in the middle of the infield, and predicted a contract worth more than $50 million (KRW 660 million).

The interest from major league teams in Lee is unimaginable.

The San Francisco Giants traveled to Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome to watch Lee’s final at-bat, while the Dodgers, Yankees, Toronto, and Mets have also shown interest in Lee. “Twenty major league clubs were interested in Lee,” said New York Post reporter John Heyman.

San Diego was one of the teams interested in Lee. The team has already had success with South Korean player Kim Ha-seong, who signed a four-year, $28 million contract. Kim had his best season this year, batting .266 (140-for-538) with 17 home runs, 60 RBIs, 84 runs scored, 38 stolen bases, and a .749 OPS in 152 games, winning the National League Gold Glove for utility.

The Padres, who are in the thick of the race to sign Lee, completed a trade with the Yankees on July 7, sending outfielders Juan Soto and Trent Grisham and receiving Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Johnny Brito, Randy Vasquez and Kyle Higashioka. Soto is just one year away from free agency, but he’s a specialty hitter who batted .275 (156-for-568) with 35 home runs, 109 RBIs, and a .930 OPS in 162 games this year. Grisham has also struggled this year, but he’s been San Diego’s starting center fielder. After trading away two of their top outfielders at the same time, the Padres are even more in need of outfield reinforcements.

The New York Post explained the Padres’ move by saying, “With two holes in the outfield, it makes sense for the Padres to bring in Jung-Hoo Lee.”

Despite San Diego’s lead, other teams are not giving up on Lee. “San Francisco is another team that has shown interest in Lee, and they’re targeting Shohei Ohtani first, 카지노사이트넷 but if that doesn’t work out, they’ll be just as interested in Lee as Cody Bellinger or Matt Chapman,” the New York Post reported.