Article: Twins With Winning Bid On Korean Slugger

[theBOMisthebomb]

Great news, let's cross our fingers we don't get Nishioka part II. What do we really know about him? 50 HRs is a lot in any league. What does that project to at the MLB level?

[Gene Larkin Fan Club]

Alright!  This is good!  What's next?

[RedBull34]

 

Just scrolling through his twitter to see if he was legit and I saw that around 7am today he said that. But he got it right this time! Go Twins!

No I did that too, I was just thinking maybe he was pranking people?

[ThejacKmp]

I guess this means that Plouffe is gone. Hopefully TR had something already lined up on that front - otherwise might be hard to have leverage in trade talks since teams know Twins almost have to move Plouffe.

 

 

[Gernzy]

I hope this is true! Sounds like Plouffe will be gone. I hope we get Norris or Lucroy for him.

[RedBull34]

This is splashy for certain (or at least un-Twins like)

 

They must really like this guy.

[gopherman23]

It's been confirmed by guys like Jeff Passan and Ken Rosenthal. We now have 30 days to negotiate a deal.

[nicksaviking]

Am I a hypocrite for posting luke-warm interest in this guy on page one followed by genuine excitement that the Twins actually won the bidding on page four?

[sorney]

 

Am I a hypocrite for posting luke-warm interest in this guy on page one followed by genuine excitement that the Twins actually won the bidding on page four?

Nope.  I'd say great hot sports take!!

[nicksaviking]

Can I submit a question for the annual Terry Ryan Q&A for the 2017 offseason handbook?

 

Q: How did you arrive at the $12.85M figure for the Byung-Ho Park posting fee?

[tobi0040]

Scouting reports seem tough to come by.  But here is an OK one.  He has hit about 120 HR the last three years.  His K rate jumped from about 18% to 25% last year, but so did the HR's (52).

 

Hitter friendly league with pitching a few notches below MLB

 

 

http://riveraveblues.com/2015/09/chosun-ilbo-yankees-scouting-korean-1b-byung-ho-park-127667/

[Loosey]

This somewhat concerns me.  The pitching in the KBO is pretty weak.  Yes he hit 53 HR's but he struck out 161 times as well in 622 PAs. 

 

As long as they don't assume Park is going to come in and perform at All-Star levels and start moving established guys out to make room I will be fine with it.

 

Also this guy hit 48 HR's, but had a much worse peripherals than Park.  Just sayin.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=navarr001yam

[dbminn]

From mlbtraderumors.com, November 9:

 

8:52am: Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that the White Sox aren’t the winner, either. That leaves the Brewers and Twins in addition to the Cubs and Reds, though the latter duo doesn’t have much of a spot for Park to play...

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/11/latest-byung-ho-park-winning-bid.html

[dbminn]

Update - From KBS Sports in Korea - Twins win bid:

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/11/twins-win-byung-ho-park-bid.html

 

 

[Pardon My Dinger]

That ought to just about wrap up Free Agency for us then, huh?

[Mike Sixel]

Wow, I did not expect that news today.

[TNLooky2015]

8 Million a year for a HR guy who whiffs a lot and hits lots of HRs.  I just want to make sure -  "Everyone is excited right"?    Lol

 

 

[Willihammer]

Welp I'm excited. This is awesome!

[Winston Smith]

Great chance for St Peter to expand the Twins brand into Korea!

[nicksaviking]

The strikeouts initially pushed me away considering it's already a huge problem with this club and we just saw the Royals win the WS with a wholly unimpressive lineup save for their collective lack of strikeouts.

 

I guess this team might as well try and go full Earl Weaver on this lineup now.

[halfchest]

http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2015/11/1/9653934/considering-byung-ho-park

 

Here's a good article i found when checking for info on him. I like it if he can translate over to a 25ish homer guy with a .800 ops. That would be grand. Obviously has contact skills too i assume with the .340 batting average. The most interesting part to me is two years ago he had almost a 1:1 bb:k ratio. And while thats diminished hes added power and batting average in place of the walks. His ops has only increased so tough to complain. Like the move read the article its worth a look.

[RedBull34]

 

8 Million a year for a HR guy who whiffs a lot and hits lots of HRs.  I just want to make sure -  "Everyone is excited right"?    Lol

If he has a similar transition to Kang, he might hit .270.  Obviously that is not concrete nor a good assumption but perhaps an indicator he isn't Adam Dunn.

[bird]

 

Wow, I did not expect that news today.

 

Maybe you could have held your breath after all.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

RF: Sano

3B: Plouffe

1B: Mauer

DH: Park

 

I wonder if this is a good idea.

Has this "what position is he going to play" question been answered yet? He's a first baseman, right?

[Mike Sixel]

 

Maybe you could have held your breath after all.

 

Ya, I'm really, really surprised by this. Like, I don't even know how to react surprise.......I wish they had broken the mold a couple years ago for a different slugging 1B, but still, I am shocked at this. I hope this indicates an aggressive approach over the next few years. Doesn't all have to be this year, but over the next few years.

[AKTwins]

The other thing this move does is block some of our young players. If he signs a 4 year contract what happens to Vargas? I know AB walker can play OF, but with Sano moving to the outfield, with Rosario, Hicks and buxton, where does everyone fit in? I expect a trade for a starter.

[SirLoin]

Alright....  Plouffe, Nolasco and Polanco to the Padres for James Shields and Derek Norris.  Go!

[RedBull34]

 

Has this "what position is he going to play" question been answered yet? He's a first baseman, right?

No it hasn't.  It was my thought process on what might be one interpretation of a possible alignment of relevant players.

[gunnarthor]

Wow, I'm somewhat surprised.

 

MLBtraderumors ranked him as their #23 FA but as others have said, scouting reports are tough on him.  I'm not sure the Twins should expect him to start right away or send him to the minors first.  But I do think this makes it much more likely that Plouffe is traded.  The roster is getting crowded.

 

 

[RedBull34]

 

Park hitting 4 HR's in a game.