Tag: Jung Hoo Lee

Giants get their man; sign Jung-Hoo Lee to six-year deal

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Newly signed San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee tried on his cap and uniform jersey at his press conference. Lee signed a six year deal and met with the media on Fri Dec 15, 2023 at Oracle Park (AP News photo)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants made the signing of Korean outfielder Jung-hoo Lee official today at a press conference at Oracle Park.

The Giants signed Lee to a six-year, $132-million deal, with an opt-out option for Lee after four years. The move came after the Giants came short of signing Shohei Ohtani, and lost him to their archrival Dodgers.

Lee played for the Nexen/Kiwoom heroes in the KBO in South Korea for seven seasons, from 2017 to 2023. He was posted on Dec, 4, and the Giants came to an agreement with him on Tuesday. After Lee passed his physical yesterday, the deal was made official.

The addition of Lee is a big upgrade for the Giants, both on the field and in the clubhouse. Lee has personality to him, which not only lacked in the Giants’ clubhouse in recent seasons, but has lacked amongst players in general in recent years.

Lee jokingly asked if he looked handsome, while putting on his Giants uniform, which had the number 51, that of his idol, and one of the greatest players of all-time, Ichiro Suzuki. Despite being Korean, Lee was born in Japan, because his father, Lee Jong-beom was playing for the Chunichi Dragons of the NPB in Japan.

He was the MVP of the KBO League in 2022, and has a career-.340 average. He is also a contact hitter, who puts the ball in play. Lee’s style of hitting is contrary to that of the power-hitting superstars in high demand today, and it also is a style of hitting that is perfectly suited for Oracle Park.

Oracle Park, which in its 24 years, has been one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in Baseball, where pitching, defense and contact hitting are crucial. It is a philosophy that has been mostly cast aside by the analytics people who run baseball front offices today.

However, it was that philosophy of Baseball that won the Giants three world championships in five years in 2010, 2012 and 2014, and it has been making a slow comeback amongst a few teams over the last two seasons.

The 2022 Cleveland Guardians, the youngest team in Baseball that season, got to Game 5 of the American League Division Series with small-ball hitting; and the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks improbably won the National League Pennant and got to the World Series using that very style of baseball.

The Giants continue to look to add, as they could be seen as a landing spot for 2023 National League Cy Young Winner Blake Snell, and other free agents.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Big Star Free Agents do not come to San Francisco

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto is being sought by the New York Mets brass who flew out to Japan to meet him. The San Francisco Giants are interested in obtaining Yamamoto’s services. Teams seeking Yamamoto will likely turn out to be a bidding war. (AP News file photo)

Big Star Free Agents do not come to San Francisco

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

SAN FRANCISCO–Last year, the Giants tried to lure free agents Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa, but they failed; other big stars like Bryce Harper (when he was a Free-Agent) have spurned the Giants. It has become much more common now that many big-name free-agent players dislike coming and playing in San Francisco.

It is not the money because the players I am talking about get the cash they want anywhere. It could be about the reputation that San Francisco has nationwide nowadays. Could it be the City by the Bay social-political situation has become not a favorite destination for some of the game’s biggest stars?

Most of these big-name free-agent players that get those multi-million dollar contracts tend to be conservative or non-political, and sometimes San Francisco doesn’t ‘rub them well”. They are all aware of this because, in today’s communication world, there is more than enough information out there, especially in social media.

This is what Farhan Zaidi, GM of the Giants, told Sussan Slusser of the SF Chronicle last year: “When we’re doing our research on free agents, and we find that players aren’t really that happy even coming into town for a three-game series, they’re probably not going to be that excited to play there for a long time.

So I think that’s part of what fueled our strategy of targeting guys with Bay Area ties. … Free agency is really, really competitive, especially at the top of the market. Even when you think you can sign a player, you’re probably not; that’s how it works. So when you don’t think you’ll sign a player, you’re definitely not going to sign him.”

No team needed Ohtani more than the Giants, but he is also not coming here. After Shohei Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, another Japanese player remains of high value; it is pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the best pitcher in Japan; estimates of this 25-year-old pitching star are that he could earn as much as a $300 million contract, and the Dodgers (of course) will go after him to paired him with Ohtani as they both won the 2023 World Baseball Classic together and have been playing together for years now.

Other free agents are Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Jung-Hoo Lee, Teoscar Hernández, JD Martínez, Dylan Cease, Blake Snell, Corbin Burns, and Tyler Glasnow. Giants could use some more power in that lineup; Bellinger might be a good choice.

This 2023 off-season, the Giants went after Shohei Ohtani (who, like Aaron Judge last year, was the biggest fish to catch). Still, Ohtani decided to stay in Southern California and signed the richest-ever contract in American sports with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a 10-year mega-deal for $700 million.

Another reason for Giants fans to hate the Dodgers, but at this time, the Giants fans cannot be pleased with their General Manager Pete Putila. Is he a victim of circumstances that are beyond his control? What can you do if you offer big money contracts but players do not consider your offers? The mega-stars are not coming to San Francisco.

Note: Tom Cruise made $100 million for “Top Gun: Maverick,” his most recent movie, a worldwide success. Ohtani is making $700 million in 10 years with the Dodgers, also in Hollywood.

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