Three Koreans make major league rosters
Seo Jae-weong: No. 2 pitcher for Tampa Bay
Eight Koreans attended spring training, but only three survived to make the opening day roster of 25 players.
Seo Jae-weong is in the most visible position. He has been named the No. 2 starter in the pitching rotation for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the American League, and is scheduled to pitch tomorrow morning, Korea time, against the New York Yankees. Seo won only three games last season while pitching for the New York Mets and the Devil Rays. But his strong showing this spring, including a 1.69 earned run average, earned him the No. 2 role behind Tampa’s Scott Kazmir.
Seo’s teammate, Ryu Jae-kuk, is on the opening day roster for the first time in his six-year career in the United States. Ryu was vying for the fifth starter’s spot, but will pitch out of the bullpen instead. In 2006, Ryu pitched in 10 games for the Chicago Cubs, including one start. He had one save and a 3.11 ERA this spring.
In the National League, Kim Byung-hyun of the Colorado Rockies has lost his starting job and will be a middle reliever for Colorado, although he has complained about pitching out of the bullpen unless he is the closer. Brian Fuentes, who saved 61 games over the last two seasons, is entrenched as the Rockies’ closer.
Kim has been mentioned in trade rumors all spring. According to the Rocky Mountain News, the Oakland Athletics have some interest in Kim as a starter, while the Texas Rangers and Florida Marlins see him more as a reliever.
While those three will wear major league uniforms at the start of the new season, the rest of the Korean contingent wasn’t as fortunate.
The New York Mets’ Park Chan-ho, the elder statesman among Korean major leaguers and the first Korean major leaguer, has been sent down to the team’s triple-A affiliate in New Orleans. Park has never played in the minors ― in 1994 he became the 17th player to join the majors without a stint in the minors.
Park lost out to Mike Pelfrey for the fifth starter’s role, and to Ambiorix Burgos for a spot in the bullpen, after going 2-1 with a 5.89 ERA this spring. But Park, who will get a chance to start in New Orleans, took his demotion in stride.
“The minor leagues may be a better fit for me,” Park told The New York Times. “I am going to focus on getting ready for my starts and throwing six or seven innings again.”
First baseman Choi Hee-seop was a training camp invitee with the Devil Rays, but was assigned to the minors on March 23. The first Korean position player in the majors, Choi will return home to play in the Korean league this season.
Under the Korea Baseball Organization’s rules, each of the eight teams has the right to select a player who left Korea after 1999 and who has been playing overseas for more than five years. The Kia Tigers, based in Choi’s hometown of Gwangju, said last Thursday that they had selected Choi.
Park Chan-ho: Sent to minors in New Orleans
On Monday, the Tigers said Choi’s agent, Lee Chi-hoon, told them Choi would return to Korea as long as there is no interest from Japanese clubs. Since Japanese teams have not actively pursued Choi this spring, a Tigers official said it is only “a matter of time” before Choi joins Kia.
Before he was sent to the minors, Choi told Korean journalists this spring in Florida that if he didn’t make the opening day roster, he would “consider going to Korea or Japan.” His fiance, Aya Yasuda, is Japanese.
“There’s no reason for me to stay in the minors any longer,” Choi said at the time. The Boston Red Sox picked him off the waiver wire in March of last year, but he did not appear in the majors last season.
Veteran right-hander Kim Sun-woo, who was invited to the San Francisco Giants’ spring training, was also demoted to the minors on Sunday. Kim, who split last season between the Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds, was 0-3 with a 7.98 ERA in seven spring games.
Kim is also eligible to play in Korea, though he has yet to make any announcement on his plans.
Two youngsters failed to crack big league rosters because of veterans ahead of them on the depth chart.
Choo Shin-soo, an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, appeared in 45 games for Cleveland after being traded from the Seattle Mariners last year, but he will have to wait to don an Indian uniform this season. The Indians acquired two veteran outfielders, Trot Nixon and David Dellucci, in the offseason.
With regulars Grady Sizemore and Casey Blake also ahead of him, Choo wasn’t even the fourth outfielder in spring training. He will open 2007 with the triple-A team in Buffalo.
Seattle pitcher Baek Cha-seung had an impressive run at the end of last season, going 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA in six starts. But that wasn’t enough to get Baek into the Mariners’ starting rotation, which added the more experienced Jeff Weaver, Miguel Batista and Horacio Ramirez. For Baek, giving up 10 runs in nine innings in spring didn’t help. He will begin his season with triple-A Tacoma.
By Yoo Jee-ho Staff Writer [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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