Following the unsuccessful bid to land versatile player Shohei Ohtani, the San Francisco Giants wasted little time in clinching another significant signing in the realm of free agency.
As per insider Jon Morosi of MLB Network, the Giants have finalized a lucrative six-year contract valued at $113 million with South Korean outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee. The 25-year-old athlete has plied his trade exclusively with the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League in South Korea.
The Giants had been listed as one of the finalists in the chase for Ohtani, who eventually opted to commit to the opposing Los Angeles Dodgers in an unprecedented decade-long contract worth $700 million. The Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs were also contenders in pursuing Ohtani prior to his choice to join the Los Angeles franchise.
Nevertheless, in sharp contrast to the Cubs and Blue Jays, the Giants expediently redirected their attention towards another high-profile free agent and have now secured the services of a potential cornerstone player in Lee, the reigning KBO League MVP from the 2022 season.
Lee boasts an impressive .340 lifetime batting average in the KBO League, along with 65 home runs and 515 RBI. Notably, he maintains an extraordinarily low strikeout frequency, having been retired by strikeouts only 304 times across 3,476 at-bats.
The Giants are emerging from consecutive losing seasons, marked by a late-season breakdown that deprived them of a playoff berth in the NL’s wild card race. Their initial major action in the offseason saw the departure of manager Gabe Kapler and the installment of Bob Melvin as his successor.
Consequently, the team now possesses a promising 25-year-old talent as a focal point around which to construct their future endeavors.
