With a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners in the bag, here comes the hard part for the South Korean star Lee Dae-ho: landing a regular gig in the big league lineup.
Lee has joined the Mariners on a one-year minor league contract, reportedly worth up to $4 million with incentives. The Mariners have invited him to their camp but haven't yet placed him on their 40-man roster.
Lee, 33, has played first base and served as designated hitter in recent seasons after getting some reps at third base earlier in his career. Though the former high school pitcher has shown surprising athleticism for his size -- he's listed at 194 centimeters and 130 kilograms -- Lee will never be mistaken for a Gold Glove winner at any position.
The Mariners, coming off a 76-86 season to finish fourth in the American League West, signed Lee for his bat, but since they don't appear to have a pressing need either at first base or DH, Lee is expected to be a platoon option in the early going.
Earlier in the offseason, Mariners' general manager Jerry Dipoto dealt away two first base options, Mark Trumbo and Logan Morrison. It appeared to have opened some space for a free agent like Lee -- except that the Mariners traded three minor leaguers to the Milwaukee Brewers for veteran first baseman Adam Lind.
Lind, 32, will be entering his 11th big league season in 2016.
He spent his first nine seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays before going over to the Brewers.
He has five 20-home seasons under his belt -- including one in 2015 -- and has a career line of .274/.332/.466.
Lind, who bats left-handed, has long had problems against southpaws. In 2015, Lind posted a meager .221/.277/.298 line against left-handed pitching, with no home runs in 104 at-bats.
All 20 of his home runs in 2015 came off right-handers, and Lind hit .291/.380/.503 against them.
For his career, Lind has a .293/.354/.509 line against right-handers, but has hit just .213/.259/.327 against left-handers. When the Mariners face some quality left-handed pitching from their division rivals -- Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, and Cole Hamels of the Texas Rangers, for instance -- Lee could supply some right-hand pop off the bench.
Nelson Cruz has a stranglehold on his DH job after mashing 84 home runs the past two years. In 2015, Cruz batted .300 for the first time in five seasons. Barring any injuries, Cruz isn't going anywhere.
Lee himself brings strong credentials from Asia, with 225 home runs in 1,150 games for the Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization with a .309 career average from 2001 to 2011. He won three batting titles and two Triple Crowns in South Korea, while leading the league in home runs twice.
In four Nippon Professional Baseball seasons in Japan, Lee hit 98 home runs in 570 games, including a career-high 31 for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks last year. He was also voted the Japan Series MVP after helping the Hawks to their second consecutive NPB championship.
On the Mariners, though, Lee will be battling converted catcher Jesus Montero for the backup role behind Lind on the depth chart.
The 26-year-old Venezuelan started out as a catcher with the New York Yankees in 2011 but moved to first base in the minors in 2013.
He is the primary right-handed option at first for now.
He hit .355/.398/.569 with 18 homers and 85 RBIs in 98 games in Triple-A last season, but has been limited to just 44 games in the majors the past two years, with six home runs and 21 RBIs in that stretch.
Montero, who is out of minor league options, also remains a defensive question mark at the bag.
The Mariners have also inked right-handed hitting veteran infielder Gaby Sanchez to a minor league deal with a spring training invitation. The 32-year-old hit 19 homers in back-to-back seasons for the then Florida Marlins in 2010 and 2011. Another right-handed batter, outfielder Stefan Romero, could get some looks at first base this spring. The 27-year-old played second base in college and some first base in the minors, but has only played in the outfield in the majors.
At this stage in his career, Lee won't be a viable option at third base. When Lee first announced his intention to try for the majors last November, he declared -- with a touch of bravado -- he'd be ready to play the position if it meant getting his big league shot. He must have forgotten about some adventurous moments at the hot corner for the Giants a few years ago.
At third, the Mariners boast a Gold Glove-winning Kyle Seager, who has strung together four straight 20-homer seasons at the plate.
Another factor working against Lee is his delayed start to his preseason work. The Mariners' position players are to report to spring training by Feb. 24, with the first full workout scheduled for the next day.
Lee worked out with the Giants in Arizona for a few weeks last month, but now he will have to deal with some administrative errands -- such as getting a visa issued and relocating to the United States -- in the coming days before arriving at the camp.
One cautionary tale for Lee involves former KBO MVP-winning pitcher Yoon Suk-min.
Two years ago, the right-hander signed with the Baltimore Orioles in mid-February, but was forced to travel to Canada for a few days to get his work permit processed. Yoon never found his groove and was optioned to the minors in March. He failed to make it to the majors in his one-year stint with the O's.
Should Lee make the big league club, he will have a chance to go up against his childhood friend playing in the same AL West division.
Texas Rangers' outfielder Choo Shin-soo, a former Mariners prospect, played on the same elementary school team with Lee in Busan, a major southern port city. The Rangers and the Mariners are scheduled to meet 19 times during the regular season. (Yonhap)
