Pittsburgh Pirates wins bidding to negotiate a contract with Korean shortstop Jung-Ho Kang

Even though baseball is “America’s pastime,” baseball players come from many different parts of the globe. South America and the Caribbean Islands are where the most international baseball player’s roots are. In 2014 there were 333 players from those origins. Here, major league teams will recruit players as young as 14 years old, give them an education, and train them to play baseball. However, this isn’t the only place where baseball players come from. In recent years players have been coming over from Asia after success in professional leagues across the Pacific Ocean.

There has been big name players coming over in the past decade like, Shin-Soo Choo, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Ichiro Suzuki, Yu Darvish, and Masahiro Tanaka. In the recent weeks a new name has appeared among these players, Jung-Ho Kang. Kang is a Korean shortstop who was the MVP of the Korean Baseball Organization. The shortstop hit .356 with 40 home runs, 117 RBIs, and a 1.198 OPS. No shortstop in the majors had more than 24 home runs in 2014. The scouting reports say that Kang is not the most mobile shortstop and does not have good range. He does has a good arm and decent glove, so he could play second, third, or even short on occasion.

This past week the Pittsburgh Pirates made the winning bid to talk to Kang about a contract. The bid was $5 million, and Kang is reportedly interested in a 4 year $20 million contract. Everyone is asking if the Pirates found the next star to come from across the Pacific, well let’s take a look. The biggest attribute of Kang is definitely his power; 40 home runs for a shortstop is extremely rare. The Korean league is known to be a very hitter friendly environment. Therefore, scouts are not convinced that his power can sustain in the Majors. His bat is what will determine if he will blossom into a star in MLB. If he can hit, there will be a spot in the Pirates lineup for him. Clint Hurdle proved that last year when a player is producing he will find a spot for the player, with the rise of Josh Harrison. He had an All-Star bat, which Hurdle kept him in the lineup by playing five different positions. I believe that if Kang is able to produce with his bat he will be in the lineup, just not necessarily at shortstop.

In recent years the most successful players to come over from Asia have been pitchers, highlighted by Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka. Hitters have not fared as well as Ichiro Suzuki and Shin-Soo Choo did when they came over nearly a decade ago. There are more successful pitchers in MLB than batter from Asia. So Kang may have an uphill battle for him to retain his power. Not to mention a 4 year $20 million dollar contract is a big contract for a small market team like the Pirates to swallow, so they must have a lot of confidence in Kang.

via Sports Heaven :: Jung-Ho Kang.