Lee Jung-hoo Take Another Step To Strengthen The SF And Outfield

The San Francisco Giants of the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB), which has Lee Jung-hoo, the “grandchild of the wind” this winter, are expected to reinforce outfield resources once again.

San Francisco acquired left-hander Robbie Ray, the 2021 American League Cy Young Award winner, in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on the 6th. Then, it sent outfielder Mitch Hanniger and right-hander Anthony Desclafani to Seattle.

Ray, who underwent Tommy John surgery in May last year, can return to the team after May at the earliest. There is a possibility that his return to the team will be delayed further. However, San Francisco Giants, which wanted solid starting resources, made a trade deal with some burden.

On top of that, Hanniger was cited as one of the hitters who could produce many long balls in his team. He hit more than 20 home runs in 2018 (26) and 2021 (39) when he was playing for the Seattle Mariners. He hit six home runs last year when he joined the San Francisco Giants.

San Francisco has ample resources in the outfield. Several players are expected to compete, including Lee Jung-hoo, Michael Confoto, Mike Yastremsky, Austin Slater, Luis Matos, Tyler Fitzgerald, and Aliot Ramos. Unfortunately, Hanniger, who showed relatively good batting performance, has been transferred.

Major League Baseball’s official website “MLB” posted an article titled “Another outfield resource can be added to fill Hannier’s position” on the 10th, mentioning the possibility of San Francisco’s recruitment of outfield resources.

The media said, “Hanniger may have another hole in the lineup because he went to Seattle with Desclafani. Hanniger only played 61 games last year due to injury, but he achieved a career high in 2021, and he is expected to play a key hitter for the team this year.”

Notably, the San Francisco Giants has failed to produce a single batter with 30 home runs for nearly 20 years since Barry Bonds (45) in 2004. Wilmer Flores had the most homers in his team last year, and only had 23 homers. Consequently, the team’s offense was inevitably affected by the lack of homers.

San Francisco, which desperately needed to reinforce its offense, signed a six-year contract with Lee Jung-hoo in mid-December last year, worth a total of $113 million, to ease some of its concerns. It is true that both offense and defense expect a lot from Lee Jung-hoo.

Lee Jung-hoo, who joined the Nexen Heroes (now Kiwoom) with the first nomination in 2017, showed a steady performance for seven years and made an impression. Until last year, he recorded a high batting average of more than 30% every year, and in 2022, he shot his first 20 home runs since his debut, showing off his slugging ability.

Lee Jung-hoo expressed his desire to challenge the Major League through the posting system after the end of the 2023 season to Kiwoom in December 2022. After internal discussions, Kiwoom agreed to respect and support the player’s will and will in early January last year. In addition, the team has decided to help and support areas that can be helped at the club level. The U.S. and Japan have also begun to pay attention to Lee Jung-hoo’s declaration of his challenge to the overseas stage.

However, Lee Jung-hoo is a batter who has focused on accurate contact rather than power since the KBO League days, and the only season to reach 20 home runs was in 2022 (22). Lee Jung-hoo is also a great player, but San Francisco thinks it is not easy to quench the thirst for home runs. MLB, which introduced Lee Jung-hoo’s history last year, also analyzed his batting style, saying, “Lee Jung-hoo is the type to make contact with balls that are difficult to hit in addition to balls entering the strike zone.”

San Francisco President Farhan Zaidi said, “We have not ruled out the possibility of recruiting another outfielder this offseason, and Lee Jung-hoo is more of a contact type batter than a power type.” “Inside options, young players can be encouraged by their development. Or, there is an opportunity to recruit players from outside. We will watch with our eyes wide open.”

As Teoscar Hernandez agreed to a one-year, $23.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 8th, Cody Bellinger and Jorge Solaire are the only outfielders left in the FA (free contract) market. Regardless of the position, Matt Chapman, Reece Hoskins, and J.D. Martinez are also suitable cards for reinforcing the batting lineup if the scope is expanded to the entire batter. In particular, San Francisco is known to be interested in infielder Matt Chapman, who worked with San Francisco manager Bob Melvin with the Oakland Athletics.

On top of that, San Francisco also expressed its willingness to reinforce the mound as Japanese left-hander Imana entered the race to recruit Shota. Citing sources, MLB said on the 9th that “San Francisco, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels remain the final candidates for the recruitment race,” adding, “San Francisco is emerging as the most likely candidate.”

However, U.S. media outlet New York Post John Hayman said on Thursday that San Francisco is looking for a starting pitcher elsewhere. He was excluded from the five finalists to sign Imana, and hours later, another U.S. media outlet USA Today Sports’ Bob Nightingale said that Imana has signed with the Cubs and is set to undergo a physical examination.

San Francisco Giants, which has failed to produce any results in the recruitment race following Yoshinobu Yamamoto, feels the need to beef up its power ahead of its preparation for the upcoming season. It remains to be seen what kind of moves San Francisco will make to check the market situation. 토토사이트 순위