The top South Korean baseball league said Monday it requested Major League Baseball to post South Korean left-hander Yang Hyeon-jong for interested clubs.
The Korea Baseball Organization said it has filed the necessary paper work with the MLB after being notified of Yang’s availability by the Kia Tigers earlier in the day.
They are steps to have the 26-year-old pitcher available for an MLB-wide silent auction this week.
Once he is posted, interested MLB clubs will have four business days to submit their bids during the auction.
At the end of the bidding period, MLB will notify the KBO of the highest bid and the Kia Tigers will have four business days to accept or reject the bid.
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Yang Hyeon-jong (Yonhap) |
If the bid is accepted, the MLB club with the highest bid will have the exclusive right to negotiate with Yang for 30 days.
Yang will be the second KBO player to be posted this offseason, after left-handed pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun of the SK Wyverns.
Kim drew a bid of $2 million from the San Diego Padres. The Wyverns accepted the bid, and the Padres and Kim have until Dec. 11 to work out a contract.
Yang completed his equivalent of seven full KBO seasons this year, making him a conditional free agent, a status that allows him to test foreign markets only with the Tigers’ approval.
Yang has often said he’d like to pitch overseas after this year. He has signed on with MVP Sports Group, whose clientele includes Albert Pujols and Joey Votto, both former National League MVPs.
Yang is coming off the best season of his career. He matched his career-best marks with 16 wins and a 4.25 ERA, while setting a new career-high with 171 1/3 innings pitched and 165 strikeouts. (Yonhap)
Kim Sun-woo to retire
Right-handed pitcher Kim Sun-woo of the South Korean pro baseball club LG Twins on Monday expressed his intention to retire after an 18-year career.
Kim, 37, notified the LG Twins of his intention, and the club said it has decided to allow the former big leaguer to hang up his spikes.
Kim, a fastball pitcher from his high school years, was a second-round pick of the OB Bears in 1996, but he decided to enter college.
In 1997, he signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox as a college student and had an MLB career from 2001 to 2006.
He played in 118 games for seven clubs, posting 13 wins against 13 losses.
He pitched a shutout against the San Francisco Giants in 2005 while playing for the Colorado Rockies. (Yonhap)
