There’s no shortage of generous evaluations of Lee Jung-hoo (25, free agent) from the American media. Starting with The Athletic’s four-year, $56 million projection, ESPN’s five-year, $63 million projection, and CBS Sports’ five-year, $90 million projection. Even with options, it’s unlikely to exceed $100 million, but it would be a bigger deal than the six-year, $36 million deal Hyun-jin Ryu signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013 and the four-year, $39 million deal Ha-seong Kim signed with the San Diego Padres in 2021.
Scott Boras, 71, a “devil agent,” said at a recent general managers’ meeting that nearly half of the major league clubs have inquired about Lee. There’s no guarantee that any of them will actually sign him. But it’s clear that the price is not going to drop.굿모닝토토 주소
On Friday, Just Baseball predicted that Lee will sign a five-year, $60 million contract. That’s lower than ESPN and CBS Sports, but slightly higher than The Athletic. But it’s not the money that’s interesting here, it’s the organization.
Just Baseball went out on a limb and predicted Lee to the New York Yankees. “Jung-Hoo Lee is one of the biggest wild cards in this free agent class. He can play all three outfield positions, as MLB.com’s Mark Paynes said, ‘I think he’s an above-average defender in center field,'” said Just Baseball.
“For a team that sees him as a full-time center fielder, he’ll be a very attractive free agent considering he’s shown the ability to get on base consistently and is only 25 years old,” Just Baseball wrote. He praised Lee’s consistency over the past seven years with Kiwoom.
In the article, Just Baseball ranked the top 25 and projected destinations. Lee was ranked 19th, just outside the top tier. This is a similar assessment to other outlets. The Yankees were the second most talked about team after the San Francisco Giants.
It looks like Lee will be able to pick a team in the posting market. On March 13, he showed up at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul for Game 5 of the Korean Series between the LG Twins and KT Wiz and hugged Ryu Hyun-jin (Toronto Blue Jays) and Kim Ha-seong (San Diego Padres). He greeted the baseball elders one by one, and wore Kiwoom’s burgundy jumper to the game, drawing even more attention. On paper, Lee is still with Kiwoom.