“I’m still in a position to compete, so it would be premature to say I’m a big leaguer.
I’ll build my body well and play my first (MLB) game in Seoul.”
Ko Woo-seok (25, San Diego Padres), who made it to the Major League Baseball (MLB) through the closed competitive bidding (posting system), is determined.
He dramatically signed a contract just before the posting deadline on April 4. It’s a 2+1 year deal worth up to $9.4 million (approx. $12.3 billion).
While the contract total falls short of the threshold set by his hometown team, the LG Twins, it is the best deal ever for a Korean bullpen pitcher in the United States.
Now, he’s in a tough race to become a big leaguer.
He will compete with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yuki Matsui, a left-handed pitcher, and Roberto Suarez, a right-handed hard-throwing pitcher, for the closer’s job at spring training in Peoria, Arizona, in mid-February.
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