Through the posting system, Ko Woo-seok, who announced his entry into the big league as a surprise, is finally able to achieve his dream. He is expected to take the mound in the “Seoul Series” while wearing the San Diego Padres uniform at the same time as he shares a meal with Kim Ha-sung.
John Heyman of the New York Post reported on the 3rd (Korean time) that “Korea’s right-handed pitcher Ko Woo-suk is about to sign a contract with the San Diego Padres,” adding, “They are likely to use Ko as the closing pitcher.” And Joel Sherman of the New York Post said on the 4th, “Go has reached a two-year agreement of 4.5 million dollars with San Diego.”
Dennis Lin, San Diego’s manager of “The Athletic,” explained, “The contract also includes a mutual option for 2026.” Ko Woo-suk is expected to be guaranteed two years and $4.5 million, and it will be a 2+1 year with a mutual agreement (mutual) option in 2026. According to Dennis Lin, Ko Woo-suk will receive $1.75 million (about 2.3 billion won) for the 2024 season and $2.25 million (about 2.9 billion won) for the 2025 season, and there is a $3 million (about 3.9 billion won) mutual option for the 2026 season, which includes a $500,000 (about 650 million won) buyout if this option is not implemented.
After the season’s schedule was over, Ko was asked to “identify” by the Major League Baseball’s secretariat. In the case of “identity check,” it is a very formal procedure that a Major League club conducts when there are players who are interested in it. Even if an identity check is requested, it does not necessarily lead to a Major League contract. Like Ko, Ham Deok-joo (LG) stayed in the KBO League after signing an FA contract with LG despite receiving an identity check request. 메이저 토토사이트
Here, Ko made the decision. After confirming that there is a Major League club that is interested in him through an ID check request, Ko decided to challenge the Major League after much consideration. It was surprising news that everyone was surprised because Ko had never expressed any intention to advance to the Major League throughout the 2023 season. When Ko made the decision, the LG Twins were agonizing this time. For LG, which aims to “win” for the second consecutive year, it was necessary to make a difficult decision to let go of the game.
After confirming his intention to advance to the Major League, Cha immediately informed high-ranking officials of the group. As a result, LG decided to allow Ko to advance to the Major League so that he could take a step closer to his dream, although team performance is important. Of course, the approval was not without conditions. He expressed his intention to allow Ko to advance to the Major League when he had a contract that would be understandable to all LG clubs as well as to him. And Ko was posted to 30 Major League clubs on April 5.
As Ko suddenly expressed his intention to advance to the Major League, there were not many articles in the local media that shed light on him. The only thing that was connected to the St. Louis Cardinals, which is moving to strengthen the bullpen in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Thursday was Derek Gould’s news that “Go Woo-suk is drawing attention from the St. Louis Cardinals,” the only recent article about Ko.
Ko Woo-seok, who was posted on the 5th of last month, will end his posting deadline at 7 a.m. on the 4th, and the news of his imminent trip to San Diego was reported while he seemed to fail to enter the big league. “New York Post” John Heyman said, “Korea’s right-hander Ko Woo-seok is about to sign a contract with the San Diego Padres.” After hearing about the size of the contract he received from San Diego from Ko Woo-seok on the night of the 2nd, LG decided to finally allow him to enter the Major League after thinking twice.
Shortly after the New York Post’s report came out, LG said, “Go Woo-seok recently received an offer from a major league club according to the posting process, and LG decided to send the offer to a major league team that has been sent in respect of the player’s will,” adding, “Go Woo-seok left for the U.S. on the 3rd to proceed with the contract, including a medical test.”
San Diego, which invested a lot of money in the Stove League last year, is currently suffering from financial difficulties. Upon the start of the Stove League, San Diego sent Juan Soto, who is expected to earn 33 million U.S. dollars a year in 2024 season, leaving the team through a trade deal, and now Kim Ha-sung, Jake Cronenworth, and Roberto Suarez are considered likely candidates for the trade. Nevertheless, the team has not stopped short of strengthening its capacity.
The San Diego Padres ranked 10th overall in the Major League with a 3.80 ERA last year. In terms of the National League alone, the team had a solid bullpen session, ranking fourth. However, as bullpen resources such as Nick Martinez, Luis Garcia, and Josh Hader left the team, the bullpen session became loose, and after recruiting Yuki Matsui, who became the youngest player to have 200 saves in the history of Japanese pro baseball, Ko Woo-seok will be included in the team this time.
Local media in the U.S. predict that Ko Woo-seok will play the closing role, despite San Diego’s recruitment of Matsui and the inclusion of options regarding the final appearance. “New York Post” John Heyman predicted that Ko Woo-seok will take the finish, along with the news that Ko’s contract with San Diego is close, and “CBS Sports” expressed expectations that “Go Woo-seok will dominate the fight for San Diego’s finishing over Robert Suarez and Yuki Matsui.”
With Ko Woo-seok wearing a San Diego uniform, he will be in the same team with Kim Ha-sung, who has only been facing each other in the KBO League. And San Diego will face the LA Dodgers in the Seoul Series at Gocheok Sky Dome on March 20-21, where he will stand on the mound in San Diego’s uniform, not LG, and will be able to see Shohei Ohtani, who signed the largest contract in the history of professional sports around the world, worth 700 million dollars (about 916 billion won) for 10 years.