Lee Jeong-hoo (25, Kiwoom Heroes), the ‘grandson of the wind’ who is aiming to advance to the Major League next season, is already seeing his stock price soar.
Lee Jeong-hoo is now seeking to advance to the major leagues through the posting system. Currently, the team that seems most likely to recruit Lee Jung-hoo is the San Francisco Giants. Ahead of the end of the regular season, San Francisco general manager Pete Putilla made a surprise visit to Gocheok Sky Dome and showed great interest in watching Lee Jeong-hoo play.
However, the presence of the San Diego Padres cannot be ignored. San Diego has already had a lot of fun recruiting Korean major leaguer Kim Ha-seong. Moreover, Ha-seong Kim was a colleague of Jeong-hoo Lee during his Kiwoom days. He is the right person to help Lee Jeong-hoo adapt quickly. In addition, there is a growing possibility that San Diego will trade ‘signature hitter’ Juan Soto, so an alternative may need to be prepared for the outfield position. And the name of Lee Jeong-hoo is being mentioned as an alternative.
The East Village Times, which reports San Diego news, said on the 29th (Korean time), “San Diego is interested in Lee Jung-hoo.”
The East Village Times said, “It is the goal of general manager AJ Preller and the front office to increase the consistency of San Diego’s offense next season.” The East Village Times said, “San Diego’s answer could be a Korean free agent. Lee Jeong-hoo will qualify as a free agent in this Stove League. “It appears that he will receive interest from several clubs. San Diego is also known to be interested in Lee Jung-hoo.”
A San Diego club official revealed through the East Village Times, “We are interested in Lee Jung-hoo. He is a talented player. He is already being discussed internally,” making it clear that there is a possibility of contact with Lee Jung-hoo. .
Lee Jung-hoo debuted with the Nexen Heroes (now Kiwoom Heroes) in 2017 and won the Rookie of the Year award with a batting average of .324, 2 home runs, 47 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases. Jeong-hoo Lee, who continued his success with a batting average of .355, 6 home runs, 57 RBI, and 11 stolen bases in 2018, and a batting average of .336, 6 home runs, 68 RBI, and 13 stolen bases in 2019, recorded his first double-digit home runs and triple-digit RBI in 2020 with a batting average of .333, 15 home runs, 101 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. He recorded a batting average of .360 in 2021, with 7 home runs, 84 RBI, and 10 stolen bases, and enjoyed the honor of winning his first batting title.
The season in which Lee Jeong-hoo showed an upgraded version is 2022. Lee Jung-hoo, who had a batting average of .349, 23 home runs, 113 RBI, and 5 stolen bases, achieved remarkable growth by not only winning the batting title for the second time in a row, but also setting career highs in home runs and RBIs. This year, due to an ankle injury, he only appeared in 86 games with a batting average of .318, 6 home runs, 45 RBI, and 6 stolen bases, but there is no indication that his injury history will affect his advancement to the major leagues.
The media also predicted, “Lee Jung-hoo’s season has been shortened as he has not been able to play since the end of July due to an ankle injury. However, his injury will not affect his free agent contract because his skills are already well-known.”
Next, the ‘East Village Times’ said, “Lee Jeong-hoo is an excellent hitter and his skill in hitting the ball with the bat is impressive. In 142 regular season games last year, he struck out only 32 and walked 66. That season, he had a batting average of .349 and 23 home runs. He praised Lee Jung-hoo’s batting ability, saying, “He was awarded the KBO League MVP award while recording 113 RBIs. He has a slash line of .340 batting average, .407 on-base percentage, and .491 slugging percentage in 884 games and 3,947 at-bats during the 7 seasons he played in the KBO league.” .
The media predicted that Soto, San Diego’s leading hitter, would also have an impact on Lee Jeong-hoo. “The East Village Times” said, “Juan Soto’s future moves can be seen by looking at his close relationship with Kim Ha-seong and San Diego’s interest,” adding, “Batterers from the KBO league have traditionally rarely played in the major leagues, but Kim Ha-seong has been playing well this season.” He has shown to adapt well to major league pitchers. If San Diego adds Jeong-hoo Lee to the lineup, it will help offset the loss of Soto. Jeong-hoo Lee is the same player the Boston Red Sox paid for Masataka Yoshida last winter ($9,000 over five years). “It is expected that we will receive around 10,000 dollars.”
Even now, trade rumors surrounding Soto are constantly being raised in San Diego. San Diego, which suffered painful failures despite investing a huge amount of money this year, is expected to start ‘downsizing’. Soto is San Diego’s leading hitter with a batting average of .275 this year, 35 home runs, 109 RBI, and 12 stolen bases, but there is talk that he will be traded in the near future as he is the team’s highest paid player and will be eligible for free agency after the end of next season. Soto received an annual salary of $23 million this year. Recently, MLB Trade Rumors (MLBTR) predicted Soto’s salary for next season to be $33 million.
If Soto leaves San Diego, San Diego will have to fill the empty spot in the outfield. Lee Jeong-hoo comes to mind as an alternative.
The problem is whether Lee Jeong-hoo can adapt to the major league stage right away starting next season. The ‘East Village Times’ said, “It may take time for Lee Jung-hoo to replicate the performance he showed in the KBO League in the United States, but it is clear that he is in a good trend. He had more walks than strikeouts for the past five consecutive seasons,” and “Lee Jung-hoo is the KBO League MVP.” He expressed a positive outlook, saying, “He is the son of Jong-beom Lee. His father was a professional player with 19 years of experience. Therefore, he has a high baseball IQ (Baseball IQ/BQ).”
Next, the ‘East Village Times’ said, “On defense, he is evaluated as a player with plus defensive ability who can hold down the center field position. He has above-average speed and a good arm. This is what makes his value soar.” He also gave a good evaluation of Lee Jeong-hoo’s outfield defensive ability.굿모닝토토 주소
What uniform will Lee Jeong-hoo wear when he enters the Major League stage next season? The East Village Times predicted that competition to recruit Lee Jeong-hoo would be fierce, saying, “San Diego is clearly interested in Lee Jeong-hoo, but he will be in high demand.” Who will be the winner in recruiting Lee Jeong-hoo? It’s already interesting.