Lee Jung-hoo to join San Francisco Giants on 6-year, $113-million deal: Reports

Lee Jung-hoo [NEWS1]

Korean outfielder Lee Jung-hoo signed with the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday on a six-year, $113-million deal according to a source first reported by MLB Network.

When it’s made official, that deal will mark the biggest contract ever signed by a player posted from the KBO, more than triple the $36-million deal signed by Ryu Hyun-jin with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013 and the $28-million deal signed by Kim Ha-seong in 2020.

The deal also marks one of the biggest contracts ever signed by a Korean player. Ryu, now of the Toronto Blue Jays, is currently the final season of a four-year, $80-million deal, while SSG Landers’ slugger Choo Shin-soo played on a seven-year, $130-million deal with the Texas Rangers until 2020.

Lee, the 2022 KBO MVP, has long been considered a big league prospect. He appeared in 85 games for the Heroes this season before a season-ending ankle injury took him out of action in July. Up to that point, he was batting .319 with six home runs, 45 RBIs and 50 runs scored.

Lee, 25, was the 2017 KBO Rookie of the Year and is a prolific hitter with a KBO-leading career .342 batting average.

When he temporarily hung up his bat in July no player had recorded more hits than Lee over the six seasons since he entered the league, at 1,076, and he was also first in doubles over the same period, at 221, third in total bases, at 1,556, and in runs, at 531.

Lee made a single return to the plate in October, receiving a standing ovation at Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul in what even then was expected to be his last at-bat for the Heroes. Giants' General Manager Pete Putila was in the stands during that final game — and on his feet after that final at-bat — believed to be the first time an MLB club GM has traveled to Korea to watch a prospect play.

He has a career .340 batting average over 3,947 plate appearances in the KBO, the highest among any KBO player ever with more than 3,000 plate appearances.

Lee is affectionately known as Grandson of the Wind, a reference to his father Lee Jong-beom, a Kia Tigers legend nicknamed Son of the Wind for his base-running speed. The elder Lee — generally considered one of the greatest KBO players of the 1990s — is a household name in Korea, but Lee Jung-hoo has already seen more than enough success to escape from his father's shadow.

At the 2023 World Baseball Classic earlier this year he was the only non-Major Leaguer included on an MLB.com article analyzing the most interesting players to watch at the tournament.

If the deal goes through, Lee will be the fourth Heroes player to move to the big leagues via posting, after Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres, Kang Jung-ho, formerly of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Park Byung-ho, formerly of the Minnesota Twins.

He likely will not be the last, with Golden Glove winning second baseman Kim Hye-seong telling reporters earlier this week that he would like to move to the Majors when he becomes eligible for posting next year.

When a KBO player is picked up by a big league team via posting, the player’s former KBO team also receives a payout based on the value of the contract. If Lee’s deal is finalized, the Heroes are reportedly set to receive just shy of $19 million.

The Giants are yet to confirm the deal as of press time Wednesday.

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