Upon missing out on the acquisition of two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, the San Francisco Giants quickly executed another significant move in the realm of free agency.
Per MLB Network insider Jon Morosi, the Giants have finalized a six-year contract valued at $113 million with South Korean outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee. The 25-year-old has spent his entire professional career with the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League in South Korea.
The Giants were reportedly one of the top contenders for Ohtani, who eventually opted to sign with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers on a monumental 10-year deal amounting to $700 million. The Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs were also in the mix for Ohtani before his decision to join Los Angeles.
However, diverging from the approach of the Cubs and Blue Jays, the Giants promptly redirected their attention to another prominent free agent and have now secured a potential cornerstone player in Lee, who clinched the KBO League MVP title in the 2022 season.
Lee boasts an impressive .340 career batting average in the KBO League with 65 home runs and 515 RBI. Moreover, he maintains a remarkably low strikeout rate, having been retired only 304 times in 3,476 at-bats.
The Giants are emerging from consecutive losing seasons, marked by a late-season collapse that denied them a spot in the NL’s wild card race. Their primary move this offseason involved parting ways with manager Gabe Kapler and appointing Bob Melvin as his successor.
Now, they possess a promising 25-year-old talent around which to shape their future.
