This winter’s stove league has a lot of attention on Asian players. Lee Jung-hoo signed a big deal with the San Francisco Giants for a six-year total of $113 million (147.2 billion won). San Francisco invested the highest amount of Asian fielders in Lee Jung-hoo, becoming the winner of the KBO League MVP recruitment.
This is not the end of an Asian player’s U.S. career. Japanese left-handed pitcher Yuki Matsui signed a four-year contract worth 20.96 million dollars with the San Diego Padres on Monday (Korea time). As a member of the Rakuten Golden Eagles, he recorded two wins, three losses, 39 saves and an ERA of 1.57 in 59 games during this year’s regular season. He is a veteran pitcher with 25 wins, 46 losses, 76 holds, 236 saves and an ERA of 2.40.
Now, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to visit his team. Yamamoto, considered the biggest pitcher of the FA, is drawing keen attention from local media in the U.S. He is drawing more attention than Blake Snell, who received the National League Cy Young Award. In 172 games, he won 70-29 with a 1.82 ERA. In addition, he became the cleanup hitter for the third consecutive year. Big market teams including the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and New York Yankees are showing keen interest in Yamamoto, and local media predict that his ransom will reach 300 million dollars.
As such, the Major League is eager to recruit Asian players. Why is that? CBS Sports, a U.S. sports media outlet, mentioned on Tuesday the reason why Major League teams need to scout Korean and Japanese players. In the past, performances in Korean or Japanese teams did not guarantee success in the Major League. Now, the situation is different. Major League teams can secure high-quality data on Asian players and predict whether their players will succeed in the Big League based on the information. 스포츠토토
CBS Sports said, “Major League teams’ front office has access to Asian players’ data. It includes all advanced measurements that Major League fans have become familiar with, such as rotation rate and batting speed. Based on this data, we connect it to algorithms and statistical models that predict performance just like Korean players and promising players, and get ideas on how players will perform,” adding, “We can erase doubts about players’ performance,” explaining the first reason why Major League teams are paying attention to Asian players.
He cited low cost as the second reason. When recruiting Asian players, Major League teams can recruit star players with outstanding skills by paying for posting money. CBS Sports said, “When recruiting Korean or Japanese players, they never give up on draft or miss out on promising players.”
The third reason is additional income. Asian players, like Shohei Ohtani, can earn extra income for their teams. CBS Sports said, “With the Dodgers’ recruitment of Ohtani, the team will be able to record about 50 more wins over the next 10 years. On top of that, the Dodgers can make money just with the existence of Ohtani. The Los Angeles Angels also earned 10 million to 20 million dollars from Ohtani-related sponsorship. Asian players, including Lee Jung-hoo and Yamamoto, will be able to earn extra income, if not as much as Ohtani.”
Lastly, Major League teams announced that they are paying attention to Asian players because there is no sale of big fish in the FA market. Major League teams are in high demand for big fish sales, but corresponding supply is insufficient. CBS Sports predicted that Asian players will continue to enter the U.S. The media said, “Korea’s bullpen pitcher Ko Woo-seok and Japanese starting pitchers Naoyuki Wusa and Naoyuki will also be able to sign contracts with major league teams.”