In case you haven't heard the New York Yankees will have a huge hole at the shortstop position following the 2014 season and the Derek Jeter replacement options are not encouraging. Currently on the roster the Yankees have Brendan Ryan, Stephen Drew (who will also be a free agent after the World Series), Martin Prado, and guys like Carmen Angelini in Triple-A. The free agent market doesn't look exactly encouraging either with Hanley Ramirez, Asdrubal Cabrera, and others showcasing the market. The Yankees may have to look outside the organization and outside the country for Jeter's replacement and their search may extend all the way to Korea and Jung-Ho Kang.
Kang is 27 years old and stands 6' tall and weighs in at 180 pounds. Kang plays above average defense and has the power to absolutely slug the ball at the plate. Here are Kang's Korean Baseball Organization stats:
Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | 19 | Hyundai | KBO | 10 | 21 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | .150 | .150 | .200 | .350 |
2007 | 20 | Hyundai | KBO | 20 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .133 | .133 | .133 | .267 |
2008 | 21 | Woori | KBO | 116 | 408 | 362 | 36 | 98 | 18 | 1 | 8 | 47 | 3 | 31 | 65 | .271 | .334 | .392 | .726 |
2009 | 22 | Woori | KBO | 133 | 538 | 476 | 73 | 136 | 33 | 2 | 23 | 81 | 3 | 45 | 81 | .286 | .349 | .508 | .857 |
2010 | 23 | Nexen | KBO | 133 | 522 | 449 | 60 | 135 | 30 | 2 | 12 | 58 | 2 | 61 | 87 | .301 | .391 | .457 | .848 |
2011 | 24 | Nexen | KBO | 123 | 504 | 444 | 53 | 125 | 22 | 2 | 9 | 63 | 4 | 43 | 62 | .282 | .353 | .401 | .754 |
2012 | 25 | Nexen | KBO | 124 | 519 | 436 | 77 | 137 | 32 | 0 | 25 | 82 | 21 | 71 | 78 | .314 | .413 | .560 | .973 |
2013 | 26 | Nexen | KBO | 126 | 532 | 450 | 67 | 131 | 21 | 1 | 22 | 96 | 15 | 68 | 109 | .291 | .387 | .489 | .876 |
2014 | 27 | Nexen | KBO | 107 | 458 | 381 | 98 | 137 | 33 | 2 | 38 | 107 | 3 | 62 | 98 | .360 | .463 | .756 | 1.219 |
9 Seasons | 892 | 3517 | 3033 | 465 | 904 | 190 | 10 | 137 | 535 | 51 | 381 | 593 | .298 | .382 | .503 | .885 |
No positional player from the KBO has ever had much success in the major leagues so it would be nice if the first were with the New York Yankees because this team is definitely better with Kang in the field and at the plate.
Kang will be posted under the old Japanese rules where teams submit a silent bid and could conceivably bid against themselves. Kang is considered to be a dead fastball hitter that struggles with breaking balls which could mean trouble in the major leagues. The problem with these scouting reports are they don't translate well into the majors sometimes so it's a definite high risk type signing, a high risk the Yankees may be forced to take.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)