The LG Twins decided to send Go Woo-seok (26) to the major league.
LG issued a press release on the 3rd and said, ‘Goh Woo-seok recently received an offer from a major league club according to the posting process, and LG respected the player’s wishes and decided to send him to the major league team that sent the offer. Accordingly, Go Woo-seok announced on the 3rd that he had left for the United States to proceed with his contract, including a medical test.
The team that Go Woo-seok received an offer from was known to be the San Diego Padres. Reporter John Heyman of the New York Post, known as a well-informed source in the major leagues, said on this day, ‘Korean right-hander Ko Woo-seok appears to be close to signing a contract with San Diego. He is expected to become San Diego’s closer (finishing pitcher),’ the report said. 카지노사이트 백링크
Go Woo-seok’s plan to enter the United States became concrete in November of last year when it became known that the Major League Baseball office had requested an identity check. Go Woo-seok’s agency Rico Sports CEO Lee Ye-rang met with LG’s general manager Cha Myeong-seok to discuss whether to post, and LG allowed him to post in the major leagues with the condition that if he paid an exorbitant amount of money, he would have to play for LG again this year. The Major League Secretariat notified Go Woo-seok’s posting to 30 big league teams on the 5th of last month, Korean time, and free negotiations were possible for 30 days from 10 p.m. on the 5th to 7 a.m. on the 4th. Lee Jeong-hoo, whose posting was announced on the same day, was looking for a new home early on, drawing attention to Go Woo-seok’s whereabouts, and with less than 24 hours left before the posting deadline, the destination was confirmed.
Even after Heyman’s report came out, it was difficult to be sure whether Go Woo-seok would be able to advance to the major leagues. It is true that San Diego made an offer, but the amount offered was not that large. It was a small amount that could only be chosen when the challenge was more meaningful, and it is known that LG was quite concerned when it first heard about the amount from Go Woo-seok.
However, LG sided with Go Woo-seok, who wanted to give more meaning to the challenge. At first, he declared, “I won’t let him go at a low price,” but Go Woo-seok’s will to step onto the major league stage was so strong. The club cannot just recklessly destroy a player’s dream. The club allowed Go Woo-seok to accept San Diego’s offer, and Go Woo-seok hurriedly boarded a plane to the United States to conclude his contract as the deadline for his posting was imminent.
Go Woo-seok was a promising fastball player who graduated from Chungam High School in 2017 and joined LG as a first-round pick in 2017. He was 21 years old, and he performed well in 65 games in 2019 with 8 wins, 35 saves, 1 hold, 71 innings, and an ERA of 1.52, quickly establishing himself as a closer who will guard LG’s back door for more than 10 years. He appeared in a total of 354 games in 7 seasons until this year, recording 19 wins, 139 saves, 6 holds, 368⅓ innings, 401 strikeouts, and an earned run average of 3.18. In 2022, he won the save title with a personal career high of 42 saves, and even this year, which was somewhat sluggish, he threw a fast ball exceeding 150 km per hour, contributing to LG’s first overall championship in 29 years since 1994. In the new year, we plan to explore a new stage called the Major League.
If Ko Woo-seok successfully completes his contract with San Diego, there will be three Korean players in the National League West Division. In San Diego, Kim Ha-seong (28), who is rising in popularity by becoming the first Asian infielder to win the Gold Glove Award last year, has already established himself as a starting player. San Diego’s rival, the San Francisco Giants, started a new career with outfielder Lee Jeong-hoo by signing a six-year, $113 million contract last month. Go Woo-seok is married to Lee Jeong-hoo’s younger sister and is also part of his family. It is expected that starting this year, we will be able to see Go Woo-seok throwing the ball to Lee Jung-hoo in the major league, the stage of dreams.
San Diego was looking to strengthen its bullpen with closer Josh Hader, who boasts 165 saves in his big league career, entering the free agent market. However, he couldn’t afford to spend a lot of money so he couldn’t catch Hey De in advance. San Diego has recently made efforts to reduce its payroll (total annual salary of the players). It is reported that San Diego is working to lower its payroll below $200 million in order to avoid exceeding the Major League luxury tax standard of $237 million next year. The trade of Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the New York Yankees was also related to the payroll reduction policy. Kim Ha-seong, who will become a free agent after this season, is also considered a trade candidate as his value is evaluated to have risen to $100 million.
So San Diego looked for alternatives among relatively inexpensive Japanese and Korean players. First, they signed a five-year, $28 million contract with Yuki Matsui, who was active as a closing pitcher in Japan. Matsui was from Japan, a good pitcher, and was a free agent, so he had the advantage of not incurring additional posting costs. And with the addition of Go Woo-seok, the mound height was raised. Heyman predicted that even with Matsui, Go Woo-seok will become San Diego’s new closing pitcher next season.
Even though there was little news about Go Woo-seok, the American media consistently mentioned it as a card that teams looking to strengthen their bullpen would aim for. He throws a fastball with an average speed of 152 km/h, and is young, in his mid-20s, giving him high growth potential.
‘CBS Sports’ predicted last month that Ko Woo-seok would benefit from the atmosphere of major league clubs preferring Asian players this winter. The media said, ‘If you look closely at the remaining off-season, you will see major league teams chasing second- and third-tier overseas free agents this winter as well. There is Japanese starting pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa, bullpen Matsui, and Korean bullpen Ko Woo-seok. Although it is difficult for them to sign a contract at the level of Yamamoto or Lee Jeong-hoo, there is still a possibility of signing a contract. He said, “I think more highly of NPB and KBO players than ever before.” Among them, Matsui and Ko Woo-seok were selected by San Diego one after another, fully proving that CBS Sports’ market analysis was correct. 메이저사이트 백링크
San Diego, which was revealed as the destination, was surprising. This is because the St. Louis Cardinals, who are in urgent need of bullpen reinforcement, have been consistently mentioned as Go Woo-seok’s most likely destination. St. Louis actually showed interest in Go Woo-seok, but it appears that it was difficult to bring him in while paying the posting fee.
Derek Gould, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a local media outlet in St. Louis, said on this day, “Go Woo-seok attracted the attention of St. Louis, but the contract window is closing soon. Go Woo-seok is in a posting situation, and the reason why an option like Matsui, which does not require a posting fee, was more attractive. “, giving off the nuance that there is a high possibility that the meeting between Go Woo-seok and St. Louis will not take place. And in fact, Go Woo-seok joined hands with San Diego and moved toward his dream.
