‘Drama contract’ San Diego, why was it Go Woo-seok
Go Woo-seok succeeded in entering the MLB with his brother-in-law Lee Jeong-hoo. There was news in the United States that Go Woo-seok (25)'s contract with the San Diego Padres was imminent.
Reporter John Heyman of the New York Post, a representative source of major league news in American professional baseball, said on his social network service (SNS) on the 3rd (Korean time), "The contract between Ko Woo-seok and the San Diego Padres is imminent. He will probably be the closing pitcher." wrote. The specific terms of the contract are not yet known, but the news is that it is not a very large amount.
However, the LG Twins released an official statement saying that they would allow Go Woo-seok to enter the United States. The LG Twins said, “Go Woo-seok recently received an offer from a major league club following the posting process, and the LG Twins decided to respect the player’s wishes and send him to the major league team that sent the offer. Accordingly, Go Woo-seok left for the United States today (3rd) to proceed with his contract, including a medical test.”
San Diego is very familiar to Koreans as Kim Ha-sung's club. However, the current situation in San Diego is very bad. Although they exceeded the .500 winning percentage with only 82 wins and 80 losses, they failed to advance to the postseason as they ranked 3rd in the National League West Division. As the LA Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks are holding on, the chances of advancing to the postseason next year are not high.
Last year, San Diego signed Xander Bogaerts (11 years, $280 million), Yu Darvish (6 years, $108 million), Manny Machado (11 years, $350 million), and Jake Cronenworth (7 years, $80 million). ) signed a long-term contract before the season, and in the season before that, Fernando Tatis Jr. (14 years, $340 million) and Joe Musgrove (5 years, $100 million) joined the long-term contract list. However, a major disaster occurred.
Since last May, Diamond Sports Group, owner of Valley Sports, a dedicated broadcaster, declared bankruptcy, causing San Diego to suffer a severe financial blow as it has not been able to receive broadcasting rights fees. The amount amounts to $1.2 billion over 20 years from 2013, or $60 million per year.
Due to these circumstances, San Diego had no choice but to downsize. After sending Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the New York Yankees, they are also planning to send Kim Ha-seong, with an annual salary of $7 million, and Cronenworth, with an annual salary of $7,285,714, next year. In fact, there are rumors that Cronenworth was in talks with Toronto, and Ha-seong Kim is also consistently in talks with Jeong-hoo Lee's San Francisco. In addition, Josh Hader, who played as the closing pitcher in the 2023 season, appeared on the market as a free agent.
On the other hand, Yuki Matsui signed a 5-year contract worth $28 million. The tone is clear. The idea is to recruit cheap, cost-effective players and reduce payroll while maintaining strength. In that respect, 'cheap and young' Go Woo-seok is a pretty good investment for San Diego, which knows very well the value of Asian players. In particular, Josh Hader's free agency is one of the most obvious reasons for recruiting Yuki Matsui and Woo-Seok Ko.
Go Woo-seok was somewhat disappointing last year, but he played an active role as Korea's representative closer the year before. Above all, he is still a very young player at 25 years old. He has room for further development in the future. Since it is not a large sum, the financial burden is small.
In addition, San Diego will play the opening game of the Seoul Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in March. The recruitment of Go Woo-seok is also a pretty good promotional tool for the Seoul Series.
LG Twins closing pitcher Go Woo-seok, who played in the KBO for seven years until last year, pursued advancement to the big leagues through posting (private competitive bidding). The final negotiation deadline is January 4th at 7 am Korean time.
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