The San Francisco Giants tried really hard to land a star last year to accelerate their contention window.
They were this close to landing Aaron Judge, and then had an agreement in place with Carlos Correa that fell apart because of a concern with his foot.
Then, this season, they agreed to the same conditions and contract Shohei Ohtani had in place with the Dodgers.
The player ended up choosing Los Angeles, though.
While the Giants are still in on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, they finally got a star-level player in outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee.
“Outfielder Jung Hoo Lee’s deal with the San Francisco Giants — six years, $113 million, an opt-out after four seasons — is a monster deal and finally lands the Giants a big-time free agent after missing on Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and others. @JonHeyman was on the news,” MLB insider Jeff Passan tweeted.
Outfielder Jung Hoo Lee’s deal with the San Francisco Giants — six years, $113 million, an opt-out after four seasons — is a monster deal and finally lands the Giants a big-time free agent after missing on Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and others. @JonHeyman was on the news.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 12, 2023
Lee has been highly coveted by MLB teams for a while.
He is a quality center fielder with a very solid glove and impressive speed.
Offensively, his best tool is hitting: he slashed .318/.406/.455 with a 139 wRC+ (100 is league-average performance) this year in the KBO (Korea’s league) and it wasn’t even one of his best career performances.
It’s important to note, however, that the KBO is closer to Double-A than Triple-A when it comes to competition and talent.
Even with the jump in difficulty he will be facing in MLB, he should be able to show an above-average hit tool and bat close to .300 with solid walk rates.
The power, on the other hand, is around average, and could be below-average in San Francisco’s cavernous home stadium.
Still, the Giants are getting an excellent table-setter to re-vitalize their offense.
It’s not Judge, Correa, or Ohtani, but it’s an achievement and should be celebrated.
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