Chosun Ilbo: Yankees scouting Korean 1B Byung-Ho Park

According to a Chosun Ilbo report passed along by our Sung-Min Kim, the Yankees are among the teams scouting Korean first baseman Byung-Ho Park. Various reports have indicated the Red Sox, Twins, and Pirates are among the other clubs scouting Park. The Korea Times previously reported 17 of the 30 MLB teams have watched him this year.

Park, 29, started his career in Korea with the LG Twins before being traded to the Nexen Heroes in the middle of the 2011 season. He broke out after the trade and has hit 30+ homers every year from 2012-15, including 52 last year and 47 this year. Park has twice been named KBO MVP (2012-13). Here are his career stats via Baseball Reference:

Year	Age	AgeDif	Tm	Lg	G	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005	18	-10.5	LG	KBO	79	185	22	31	11	0	3	21	1	0	12	48	.190	.265	.313	.578
2006	19	-9.5	LG	KBO	48	142	7	21	2	0	5	13	1	3	9	42	.162	.227	.292	.519
2007-08: Did Not Play (Military Service)
2009	22	-6.3	LG	KBO	68	213	28	41	7	0	9	25	2	1	20	70	.218	.305	.399	.704
2010	23	-5.0	LG	KBO	78	192	25	30	4	0	7	22	5	1	26	55	.188	.305	.344	.649
2011	24	-4.4	2 Teams	KBO	66	230	31	51	11	2	13	31	2	0	26	76	.254	.343	.522	.866
2012	25	-3.3	Nexen	KBO	133	560	76	136	34	0	31	105	20	9	73	111	.290	.393	.561	.954
2013	26	-2.5	Nexen	KBO	128	556	91	143	17	0	37	117	10	2	92	96	.318	.437	.602	1.039
2014	27	-1.9	Nexen	KBO	128	571	126	139	16	2	52	124	8	3	96	142	.303	.433	.686	1.119
2015	28		Nexen	KBO	122	547	116	163	32	1	47	134	9	2	68	137	.351	.442	.727	1.169
All Levels (9 Seasons)					850	3196	522	755	134	5	204	592	58	21	422	777	.281	.387	.563	.950

Yep, Park’s a slugger. Lots of dingers and also lots of strikeouts, apparently. He had a 25.0% strikeout rate this year and 24.8% last year in a league where the average strikeout rate is 18.8%, so right away that’s a bit of a red flag. Jung-Ho Kang, Park’s former teammate with Nexen, never had a strikeout rate higher than 21.2% in Korea, for example.

There are no good freely available scouting reports of Park available, so we have to stick to the basics. He stands 6-foot-1 and 194 lbs., both bats and throws right-handed, and his home run total suggests he has some power. The strikeout totals suggest Park also has some holes in his swing. Remember, he’s been striking out in a quarter of his plate appearances against KBO caliber pitching, which is several notches below MLB pitching.

Kang has been tremendously successful with the Pirates this season — he went into last night’s game hitting .287/.357/.469 (132 wRC+) with 15 homers and a 20.6% strikeout rate — which is going to lead to teams taking a much longer look at Korean position players in the future. Yoenis Cespedes really helped kick the door open for Cuban players and Kang could do the same for Korean players. Twenty-nine teams are wondering why they missed on him.

Yonhap News reported earlier this year that Park wants to come over to MLB after the season, though he will not be a free agent. The Heroes will have to agree to make him available via the posting system. The posting agreement with KBO is the old NPB system, meaning teams submit blind bids then win a 30-day negotiating window. The MLB team only has to pay the posting fee if they sign the player.

The Pirates landed Kang with a $5M posting fee and a measly four-year contract worth $11M. Total steal. Prices for Korean players are only going to climb though. That’s how these things usual work. They don’t get cheaper. I have no idea what kind of posting fee will be required to win Park’s rights and I have even less of an idea of what kind of contract it will take to get him signed. Total guesswork.

Now, that said, what would the Yankees do with Park? He’s a first baseman and a first baseman only. Mark Teixeira is signed through next year and Greg Bird is poised to be his long-term replacement. The Yankees also have Alex Rodriguez under contract through 2017, so they don’t need a DH either. Maybe Park’s athletic enough to play the outfield, or maybe they consider him a better long-term option than Bird. Who knows? Either way, we’ll hear more about Park this offseason. I’m sure of it.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply