When Goh announced that he was applying for a major league job, baseball insiders who knew the local market were uniformly cynical.
Goh wasn’t jumping into the fray blindly. He had been preparing for the major leagues since a year ago by consulting with his agency, and his agency had also been preparing for the “just in case” scenario by conveying the message, “There are teams interested in you. The LG Twins were aware of his intentions, but they didn’t expect him to apply right away in the offseason. He hadn’t made a formal request to post after the 2023 season.
The process of requesting a background check from Major League Baseball and applying for the post was seamless. However, experts were skeptical about his chances of success. A baseball insider who closely follows the market for foreign player contracts said, “Just because there is a request for a background check doesn’t mean that all of them will be signed. Nowadays, overseas leagues can analyze players through detailed data. They can analyze players with detailed data, and if there is enough interest to say, ‘Oh, there’s a player like this,’ an ID check can be done. In the case of Ko Woo-seok, I think it will be difficult for the post to be finalized because he is not highly recognized in the major league market.” Another insider added, “I think this is just a publicity stunt to get his name out there. 온라인카지노 Honestly, there is not much interest in Go Woo-seok, and it seems to be an unreasonable challenge.” Another official gave a cold shoulder.
Lee Jung-hoo, who attempted the post around the same time, had a different story.
He swept the individual titles in the 2022 season and was named the league’s MVP, and major league teams kept sending scouts to him early on. It was easy to see that he would eventually make it to the major leagues. Lee first officially requested a post after the 2022 season ended, and the Heroes officially agreed, giving them a year to prepare.
While the circumstances surrounding Go’s request for posting have been interpreted differently, he ultimately got the major league contract he wanted. The end was dramatic. With no clubs actively making offers, San Diego stepped in at the last minute, and a day before the deadline, he hopped on a plane to the U.S., took a medical, and the deal was finalized. It was a dramatic signing with seven minutes left before the deadline.
Ko’s contract is worth $4 million guaranteed for two years, with an additional $3 million if the club exercises the +1 option after two years. On top of that, he will receive another $2.4 million if he fulfills all of the agreed-upon conditions. The maximum is $9.4 million in 2+1 years.
However, this is not a satisfactory outcome for LG when they “conditionally accepted” the initial post.
It’s actually a two-year, $4 million deal with guaranteed money. In the major leagues, $4 million is not a lot of money to value a player. LG has always been clear that we cannot afford to sell our closer, but the player was desperate to fulfill his major league dream with this contract. Honestly, we saw this coming when we gave the conditional approval. It’s a game the club can’t win. They would be criticized by fans for standing in the way of a player’s dreams.
But when you look at it coldly, LG has nothing to lose. The transfer fee for Post is $900,000 (approximately 1.1 billion won). That’s not a lot of money for LG to lose.
Regardless of his future success in the major leagues, Go’s signing should be enough motivation for other KBO players. It shows how American clubs view Korean players, especially bullpen pitchers, who have been relatively underserved, and it’s a chance for them to get noticed in the midst of a minor league job shortage. There is already talk of several A-list pitchers making it to the majors. A few years ago, it was all about hitters making it to the majors after Jung Ho Kang, but now it’s about pitchers as well. This is certainly encouraging.
However, clubs need to renew their safeguards.
When it comes to going overseas, players should be able to make their plans through their agent before consulting with the club. While it’s the role of professional clubs to be supportive of the lofty dream of going abroad, they also need to give players time to make sure they have a mutual agreement and terms in place. If you’re a free agent, this may not be an issue, 에볼루션 바카라사이트 but if you’re going to go through a posting, you’ll definitely need the club’s approval first. Ideally, the player and the club should have time to discuss and prepare for the move beforehand.