After this season, through the posting system (private competitive bidding), Lee Jeong-hoo (25‧ Kiwoom), who will knock on the door of the major league stage, began to receive the spotlight of the local media in earnest. Some scouts see Lee Jung-hoo as a player who can hit .300 in the major leagues.
Jim Borden, a columnist for the North American sports media ‘The Athletic’ and who served as general manager in Cincinnati and Washington, selected ‘TOP 30’ in the major league free agent (FA) rankings on the 11th (Korean time). Among the numerous superstars listed below the undisputed No. 1 Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels), Lee Jung-hoo’s name was also included. Borden rated Lee Jung-hoo as 27th overall.
Lee Jung-hoo, who reigned as the best hitter in the KBO League for a long time, naturally attracted the attention of major league scouts for a long time. It is known that some clubs conducted a close investigation from the time Lee Jung-hoo made his professional debut, rather than simply interested in 1-2 years. Officials familiar with the situation agree that Lee Jung-hoo’s current ball, defense, and land skills, Lee Jung-hoo’s future development potential, and his personality on and off the field and clubhouse leadership are all being reported to the United States.
With Lee Jung-hoo’s scouting reports already piled up, Borden showed interest, saying that scouts’ evaluations of Lee Jung-hoo’s batting were a bit mixed. Apparently Lee Jung-hoo is a player who has not played a single game in the United States. It’s harder to gauge how his current skills will fare in the major leagues. This is a common problem for players who played in the KBO League or Japan.
“Major league scouts are giving mixed reactions to Lee Jung-hoo’s hitting tools,” said Borden. I believe it will draw a learning curve of about two years,’ he explained the local atmosphere.
Following this, Borden continued that the local atmosphere was mixed, saying, ‘Some people believe he will be a 0.270 (batting average) type hitter, and some people are imagining a . A hitter of 0.270 isn’t bad, but it’s not easy to say the best, and the value of both is the difference between heaven and earth.
In fact, while there are only 10 300 hitters in the major leagues this year, there are 47 hitters with 0.270 or higher. Since Lee Jung-hoo is not a hitter who wins with long hits, the evaluation of his batting average is likely to be a major factor in the ‘betting amount’.
Other than Borden’s skills, he gave relatively generous evaluations. Borden said, ‘The best part of Lee Jung-hoo’s tools is his contact rate and ability to get walks’, reminding him that Lee Jung-hoo has more walks (383) than strikeouts (304) in the KBO League career. “He’s a plus center fielder with plus range and a strong arm. He makes a good jump for the ball and takes a good (battery tracking) route,’ he added, adding that he is rated as a better-than-league defensive center fielder.꽁머니사이트
Borden didn’t do too bad for his main, saying, “He’s an above-average runner with a wide stride, but he’s not a real threat in stealing situations.” He continued, ‘He doesn’t have a lot of power, but he’s the dominant MVP in the KBO league. He suffered an ankle injury and reportedly will miss the rest of the season, but he is expected to move to MLB later this year,’ he concluded.
The evaluations of 30 club scouts cannot be the same. Some teams can expect Lee to provide a .300 and above-average defense and focus. On the other hand, in other teams, Lee Jung-hoo is not a 30% hitter, and it can be said that ‘major league jackpot’ is difficult in that he lacks power.
In fact, for some clubs, the head of scouting personally visited Korea to watch Lee Jung-hoo. In the case of the team, it means that it is making a final decision on whether to jump in before bidding after the decision and how much to bet. With enough scouting reports piled up, there are many opinions that missing the rest of the year due to an ankle injury won’t hurt his value. It’s just a pity that the opportunity to show a more developed image has disappeared.
One of the things scouts pay attention to the most is Lee Jung-hoo’s age. Lee Jung-hoo will be 26 next year. There are many geniuses who are said to be playing in the major league free agency market, but it is still not easy to see them appearing in the free agency market at the age of 26. In other words, as a recruiting team, you can pick out and use all of Lee Jung-hoo’s prime. This is likely to be a huge plus in market value. If you receive a contract period of more than 5 years, there is a reason for the expectation of a total amount of around 100 million dollars, including the posting amount.