The San Francisco Giants made an official statement on the 15th (Korea Standard Time) stating that they have agreed to a six-year contract with outfielder Lee Jung-hoo. “We have agreed to a six-year $113 million Major League contract with Lee Jung-hoo. It includes a clause that allows them to apply for opt-out after the 2027 season,” the team said.
He has set the record of the highest number of fielders in Asia. The previous record was five years and 90 million U.S. dollars for Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida who signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox ahead of this season. The Japanese media expressed surprise when Lee surpassed Yoshida’s mark, and the U.S. media expressed concerns over his overpayment, but Lee will take over the title anyway.
The club also disclosed the details of the contract. Lee will receive 7 million dollars in annual salary in 2024, the first year of his contract, 16 million dollars in 2025, and 22 million dollars in 2026 and 2027. If he does not apply for opt-out, his annual salary in 2028 and 2029 will be 20.5 million dollars. Lee will also receive 5 million dollars in signing bonus.
Lee’s contract also includes donations. “Lee will also make a charitable donation to the Giants Community Fund. He will donate 60,000 U.S. dollars in 2024, 80,000 dollars in 2025, 110,000 dollars in 2026 and 2027, and 102,500 dollars in 2028 and 2029,” the club said. If you add up the donation, it amounts to 565,000 dollars. 메이저 토토사이트
The fact that Lee Jung-hoo and San Francisco agreed on the contract was reported early on the 13th, and there was only a medical test left on the 15th. The U.S. media also expected the “second Carlos Correa incident” while taking issue with Lee Jung-hoo’s ankle injury. San Francisco agreed to a 13-year, $350 million contract with large shortstop FA Correa in December last year, but canceled it. It was because he did not pass the medical test. Correa had a leg injury when he played in the minor leagues in 2014, which led to the cancellation of the contract due to disagreements between the players and the club over the results of the test in this area. Correa agreed to a 12-year, $315 million contract with the New York Mets, but it was canceled for the same reason, and eventually concluded the contract by agreeing to a six-year, $200 million contract with the Minnesota Twins.
San Francisco’s local media “San Francisco Clonicle” stressed that Lee Jung-hoo also had an ankle injury issue recently, so he should wait for the results of his physical examination. The media said on the 14th, “Lee Jung-hoo spent most of the second half of this season with an ankle injury, and came back at the end and entered the batter’s box as a substitute. Since San Francisco failed to recruit the FA’s biggest fish Aaron Judge, it can be said that the red light has been turned on because the latest Plan B was Correa, a shortstop.”
“Correa had a contract issue when he underwent a physical examination in San Francisco, as he was classified as a potential problem with his ankle fracture in the past. Thanks to this, we learned that we should not be sure about anything until the official announcement. Moreover, Lee Jung-hoo is a leadoff type where mobility is important,” he added.
After overcoming concerns, Lee will join the San Francisco Giants in good health. The team will hold a press conference on joining the team at Oracle Park, its home stadium, on Thursday. Lee will join the team in San Francisco for the first time to greet fans in the Major League.
San Francisco first congratulated Lee Jung-hoo by posting a lot of related posts on its social media. “Lee Jung-hoo, welcome to the San Francisco Giants,” he said in Korean along with a picture of Lee Jung-hoo’s contract confirmation. He also changed the background of the club’s page by writing “Giants” in Korean.
If you look at Lee Jung-hoo’s introduction in the statement of the contract announcement, you can see that the club is full of affection. The club said, “Lee won the KBO Golden Glove five times (2018-2022) and received the KBO Rookie of the Year (2017). In 2022, his last full-time season, he won the MVP award. In the 2022 MVP season, he recorded a batting average of 0.349, 85 points, 36 doubles, 10 triples, 23 home runs, 113 RBIs, and 0.996 OPS. He entered 627 at-bats in 142 games, and struck out only 32 times. He also ranked first in all categories of batting average and hits (193), RBIs and triples. He also appealed that he ranked first in the league in terms of batting average (0.360) in 2021, doubles (49) in 2020, and triples (10) in 2019.
“Lee Jung-hoo played in 884 games with KBO Nexen and Kiwoom (2017-2023) and recorded a batting average of 0.340, 581 runs scored, 244 doubles, 43 triples, 65 home runs, 515 RBIs, 69 steals, and an OPS of 0.898.” He also stressed that Lee’s overall batting average is the No. 1 among batters with 3,000 or more at-bats in KBO history.