Connolly: Orioles SIGN Kim 2 - $7M (Olmos Waived & Re-Claimed by Cubs)

[Three Run Homer]

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/8631/hyun-soo-kim

Rich Dubroff of CSNmidatlantic.com reports that Korean outfielder Hyun-soo Kim has good offers from other teams in the KBO and will likely stay there.

Hopefully this is just a ploy to get some more money or another guaranteed year out of the Orioles. I'd much rather give Hyun-soo Kim a chance than sign a washed-up Wil Venable or give up $10 million a year to Gerardo Parra.

[NATTYBO's]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/12/orioles-make-two-year-offer-to-hyun-soo-kim.html

Looks like Kim may stay in Korea, my guess is the offers he's receiving isn't what he expected or it's an agent ploy.

[DrungoHazewood]

The AAV feels low if you're trying to pry a guy away from his home country where he's a star player and wanting him to be your starting LF.

I think it's gotta be closer to $6-8. Or else he'll just stay put, which it seems he will unfortunately.

His current salary in Korea is $700k or thereabouts. The top salary in Korea is about $1.2M. $4M a year is a lot more than that.

[TheDirtyBird]

His current salary in Korea is $700k or thereabouts. The top salary in Korea is about $1.2M. $4M a year is a lot more than that.

Maybe he's weighing a life away from Korea/going to a new country over the money? Would seem like 3-4million would be a jump worthy enough to make a move to the US. I'd bet its just a negotiating tactic

[MrOrange82]

Fair enough, but it seems it's not enough to persuade him to leave home. Which I get.

Given the people I pass by in Baltimore on the way to work, I, too, completely understand Kim's desire to remain in a country that borders a nuclear-powered crazy person.

[Number5]

His current salary in Korea is $700k or thereabouts. The top salary in Korea is about $1.2M. $4M a year is a lot more than that.

Actually, according to the chart posted earlier in this thread, he made 600 million won, which at an exchange rate of .000849 would be $509,400. I somehow doubt it would take $6-8 million for him to decide to play in the US, unles he just flat out doesn't want to leave Korea. Of course, if that were the case, why would he be going through this exercise? The top salary of 1,500 million won would be $1.273 million, to put this in perspective.

[DrungoHazewood]

Fair enough, but it seems it's not enough to persuade him to leave home. Which I get.

There are many places in the world I'd move my family to for a two- or three-year rotation and a quadrupling of my salary. If I got a rotational assignment to one of the US bases in Europe I probably wouldn't need a penny of salary increase to tell the wife and kids to start packing.

[InsideCoroner]

In US dollars that's $1.3M on the top end, $272k at the bottom.

So he earned about $640K last year. $4 Mil a year would be quite a nice salary bump, then.

[weams]

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/hyun-soo-kim-korean-outfielder-free-agent-hot-stove-cj-nitkowski-121015

[SteveA]

I hope the team is aware of, and making Kim aware of, the very large and vibrant Korean American community that has grown in the Ellicott City area over the past two decades. There may be an assumption that it would be easier for him and his family to experience their native culture in a West Coast locale but that's not necessarily the case.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[TheDirtyBird]

Sounds like the KBO teams would be willing to up his salary to keep him. In which case, I guess the stakes have to be raised over here. It is a major life change. I would however think that the chance to prove yourself in your prime would be a major contributing factor; wouldn't always want to wonder if you could have handled the MLB

[mdbdotcom]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/danconnollysun">@danconnollysun</a> said Orioles made offer to SK OF Hyun-Soo Kim. Industry source says he has good offers in Korea, will likely remain there.</p>— Rich Dubroff (@RichDubroffCSN) <a href="

">December 15, 2015</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[DrungoHazewood]

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From the linked article: "because he has better offers there". Better than $4 million AAV? I find that hard to believe.

Did Korea just discover RSNs and insane revenue spikes? Did Mark Cuban buy a team? Otherwise it seems unlikely that there are truly competitive bids coming out of the KBO. It seems that last year most teams had payrolls under $10M.

[Number5]

Sounds like the KBO teams would be willing to up his salary to keep him. In which case, I guess the stakes have to be raised over here. It is a major life change. I would however think that the chance to prove yourself in your prime would be a major contributing factor; wouldn't always want to wonder if you could have handled the MLB

Well, the top salary for a domestic player in that league last year was $1.273 million last year. If he is being offered between $3 and $4 million by MLB teams, we are talking about three times the highest salary in that league. That would, no doubt, heavily impact salary demands from players throughout that league. I'm not so sure that league owners are prepared to do that. I have no contact over there, of course, but it is just hard for me to see them offering money in the range of what MLB teams appear to be offering. O think that I am more concerned about what the Padres and A's are offering him than what Korean teams may be offering him. Anything can happen, though.

[DrungoHazewood]

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I hope an opt-out clause would be easy enough to add.