Lee Jung-hoo’s name is resonating across San Francisco in the U.S. Even before his debut, he was selected as one of 15 baseball players to watch in the San Francisco metropolitan area.
The San Francisco Chronicle, a local media outlet in San Francisco, introduced Lee Jung-hoo as the 14th player among the 15 baseball players to pay attention to this year on the 13th (local time).
“We don’t know yet what kind of performance the new center fielder of the Giants, who was called the ‘grandchild of the wind’ in Korea, will perform,” he said, adding, “I know he is a good hitter in the sense of an old school with excellent athletic ability and lively defender and excellent skill in hitting the bat.”
Earlier, Lee Jung-hoo was evaluated as “San Francisco succeeded in reinforcing the outfield by recruiting Lee Jung-hoo” in an article on MLB.com on the 12th, “Where has each club’s position been well reinforced?”
“The San Francisco Giants did not produce as much reinforcement as it expected in the offseason. However, recruiting Lee Jung-hoo, dubbed the “grandchild of the wind,” is a great achievement,” MLB.com said. “Lee Jung-hoo has good contact skills. Based on his success in the KBO league, he will also show good performance in the Major League.”
In particular, he also predicted Lee’s detailed performance. “Lee Jung-hoo is expected to have an on-base percentage of 0.354, as well as a strikeout and walk ratio,” MLB.com predicted. “The WAR (contribution to victory for substitute players) will hit 3.2.
“The San Francisco Giants deployed a total of 10 players last year to achieve a WAR of 0.4 in center field. It will improve significantly this season,” he said, adding that San Francisco’s WAR in center field, which ranked 28th out of 30 teams last year, will rise to 11th this season.
Lee Jung-hoo agreed to a six-year, $113 million (about 149 billion won) contract with San Francisco, and the contract also included an “optout” clause that allows him to break the contract and qualify as a free agent four years later through a player agreement with the club. 마카오토토도메인
Starting with next season’s annual salary of 7 million dollars (9.2 billion won), the contract details will reportedly receive 16 million dollars (about 20.9 billion won) in 2025, 22 million dollars (about 28.7 billion won) in 2026 and 2027, and 20.5 million dollars (about 26.7 billion won) in 2028 and 2029. The down payment will be 5 million dollars (about 6.5 billion won).
In addition to Lee Jung-hoo, San Francisco Giants president Farhan Zaidi and manager Bob Melvin were also on the list of notable baseball players. Also on the list were pitcher Logan Webb and legendary Buster Posey.
Scott Boras, Lee’s agent, came in second. “Boras, who sent Lee to San Francisco, has four major free agents, including Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery,” the San Francisco Chronicle said.