The hottest market in baseball right now has to be the market for players who have defected from Cuba. With so many recent success stories, including the most recent story by Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox, it is starting to look like players from Cuba are providing much more of a guarantee, and much less of a risk.
In Abreu’s case, he received $68 M guaranteed over six years, without having seen a single pitch in MLB, and without any guarantee of what he could possibly do in pro ball. A year later, the market is so hyped up that 19-year-old Yoan Moncada will probably cost a team $60-80 M to sign, and he will begin his career in the minor leagues.
It kind of makes you wish that you could go back to the time when the Cuban market was unproven. When the Los Angeles Angels signed Kendrys Morales at the age of 22, they paid $4.5 M guaranteed over six years, with the total value of the contract potentially worth $10 M in bonuses. Even the $30.25 M that the Cincinnati Reds paid Aroldis Chapman in 2010 seems low considering the prices just a few years later.
What if, instead of turning back time, you could find the next Cuban market? The Pittsburgh Pirates certainly hope that could happen with recently signed Jung-ho Kang, out of the Korean Baseball Organization. Kang hit 40 homers last year in the KBO, and has shown a ton of raw power. He signed for $11 M over four years, which could be worth $16.25 M over five years, and more if he reaches certain performance bonuses. The hope is that he can carry his power over to the majors and be an effective player, and possibly a steal from an under-rated market.
I talked to Kang today through his translator, after his practice at Pirate City. While he doesn’t know how his power will translate over to MLB, he does know that his success could open the door for more talent to come over from Korea.
“If I do well, there’s going to be a lot of Korean players to come here,” Kang said, through his translator. “It still depends on how I do, and I know it. I feel a little bit of pressure, but I will just try to enjoy the games, and hopefully I can make the adjustments well so that other Korean players can come here too.”
Kang arrived in Bradenton on Wednesday, and has been working out the last three days at Pirate City, taking batting practice and fielding ground balls. He is still getting to know his teammates, but said he is having a lot of fun so far.
“I can’t name one of them, but all of the guys are very friendly. I’m very welcomed.”
All of his work on the field so far has been at shortstop. The Pirates will use him this year as a utility infielder, playing some second and third. Kang said that he played a lot of second base in Korea, but didn’t play third base as often, although he will adjust to it. As to where he will get most of his playing time with the Pirates, Kang is leaving that up to his manager.
“To be honest, I’m not sure at this point, because it’s Clint Hurdle’s decision,” Kang said. “I will prepare for all of the positions that I have to do.”
The impressive thing the last few days has been the power that Kang has displayed. The power was obviously there, as evident by the 40 home runs last year. The performance the last few days also comes with the disclaimer that he’s only taking batting practice. But Kang’s swing looks smooth and effortless, and the ball flies off his bat.
WATCH: Video of Jung-ho Kang taking batting practice
Dan Farnsworth of FanGraphs recently did an article breaking down Kang’s swing, and gave him some very favorable comps and a lot of praise. One of the big topics so far is how Kang’s leg kick could impact him in the US. I asked Kang about the kick, and whether he used it for power or timing. It turns out that there isn’t a specific focus, and it has just always been a part of his swing.
“It’s just a thing that I do all the time,” Kang said. “It’s just a natural thing I do when I hit. I didn’t think about it too much, and I’ll do the same thing over here and see how it goes.”
So will Kang be the first of many Korean players to make the jump to the US? Kang definitely has power that you can dream about. The question is whether he can apply that power to the game. If he can do that successfully, then the Pirates would end up with a steal, and they’ll be the first in what will probably be a new emerging market.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
There’s no place to really put this, so gonna put it here. While Kang wants to bring in more Korean players, Cutch wants to bring in more blacks. And here’s his brilliant plan on how to do that, which was a response to the Chicago LL team being stripped of their trophies.
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/left-out/
Cutch is the best ambassador MLB has.
Very worthy of a link, bucs. Thanks.
Fascinating article by Cutch! Thanks for posting it. I am more familiar with the AAU system in basketball, and you have all sorts of coaches in it, some savory, others not. I presume that it’s the same in baseball. Cutch’s movement up the AAU ciruit may have gained him exposure that led to the #1 draft position. But there’s no way he wouldn’t have been drafted, and with his talent, determination and work ethic eventually risen to MLB. I agree that he is a great ambassador for baseball.
How to attract the better black athletes to baseball is a pertinent question though, and one that I hope the game solves soon. I was in Nicaragua recently. One thing that impressed me among many things (both positive and negative) when I traveled through the countryside was how many pick up baseball games were being played on hard scrabble little fields. Baseball is the most popular sport there, though there aren’t many Nicaraguans in the MLB. But you just don’t see that driving across America. The baseball fields here are mostly empty, if there isn’t an organized league game going on.
However the one area of difference I have with Cutch’s perspective is that I don’t think there is a direct comparison between Little League and the AAU. The premise of Little League is that it is formed from neighborhood, not all-star, teams, no? Little league and the AAU have different roles, different rules. But maybe one thing MLB could do, in conjunction with Sports firms like Dick’s, is offer discount coupons for bats, balls and gloves for kids.
i think the reason why they traded snider is because if anyone in the team struggles, they are going to move kang in and move harrison to RF. If harrison struggles, well kang just replaces him. Lets hope that no one struggles, and kang is on the bench, because that means our offense will be hitting better than even last year when the pirates were a top NL offensive team.
I thought Kang hit 40 HR last season in the KBO?
Just so we get all the GOOD Korean players. 🙂
Tim,
With whom would you say Kang’s power is most comparable based on what you’ve seen: Alvarez, Cutch, Walker, Mercer, JHAY , Marte?
It’s impossible to make a comparison like that when I haven’t seen how his power looks in games in the majors.
Well I know you can’t make a prediction about how he’ll do in MLB games without actual evidence. There can be a great difference between practice players and game players, both positively and negatively. Most players will play like they practice, but some players will consistently play in games better than they practice (pressure focuses them) and others will play worse (pressure crushes them). But my question was how do the batting practices compare, not how will Kang do in games? He must look like somebody.
He put on an impressive display during batting practice today delivering multi (more than several) batting practice balls into the parking lot.
Exciting! Thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1dPm7jbdLE
Ryu Hyun Jin vs Kang 2012
Right before Ryu joined the Dodgers
Joe, is that spare room at your place ready for me yet ?
Babe Ruth?