Yoo Kang-nam joins Lotte Giants on four-year deal

Baseball

Published: 21 Nov. 2022, 15:54 Updated: 21 Nov. 2022, 17:11

Yoo Kang-nam joins Lotte Giants on four-year deal

Yoo Kang-nam [YONHAP]

The Lotte Giants on Monday signed free agent catcher Yoo Kang-nam on a four-year deal worth 8 billion won ($6 million).

Yoo, formerly of the LG Twins, will earn 3.4 billion won in annual salary with a 4-billion-won signing bonus and 600 million won in options.

Yoo debuted with the Twins in 2011 and moved up to a regular starting spot in 2015. He has appeared in over 1,000 games for the Twins and has a career 0.267 batting average with 103 home runs, 796 hits and 447 RBIs. He finished the 2022 season with a .255 batting average.

Yoo’s arrival in Busan should plug a hole in the Giants starting lineup that the club has struggled with since Kang Min-ho left in 2017.

Yoo is replaced in Jamsil by Park Dong-won, who joins the Twins from the Tigers. Two other catchers remain in the free agent market: Park Sei-hyok of the Doosan Bears and Yang Eui-jo of the NC Dinos.

"I'm grateful to be able to start a new chapter in Lotte,” Yoo said in a quote prided by the Giants. “We will do our best to ensure a wonderful 2023 season for Lotte fans.”

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]