Article: Twins Have Deal With Byung Ho Park

[mikecgrimes]

 

I'm wondering with this signing and the talk of sano to the outfield as a possibility... what do people think of moving Mauer out there... instead of Sano?

 

He can't he has a no trade clause.  Oh wait wrong automatic response.

[sane09]

If everyone else runs out to their positions quickly, and only leftfield is vacant, maybe Joe will get a hint.

[Platoon]

The money was reasonable, besides its Carl's money, he had plenty. Mr Park will never have to work after BB if he doesn't want to. But when one side faces a take it or leave it, and the other side is only out a few bucks in lawyer and accounting fees, that's not a negotiation. As to Parks talent, I don't know. The numbers are great, but so is the history that the Twins never ever outbid, or out pay everyone else in baseball for a player. Their normally not even on the legitimate fringes. Even with Sano, there were age verification factors that drove other teams away, kudos to Bill Smith for sticking with it, but it wasn't a pure matter of outbidding the rest of MLB. As to Plouffe, if they don't trade him, Sano has to play RF. UGH!

[tobi0040]

 

I'm wondering with this signing and the talk of sano to the outfield as a possibility... what do people think of moving Mauer out there... instead of Sano?

 

In watching Mauer "run" to first base, the thought of him chasing balls down in the OF makes me cringe.

 

Sano is much faster than people gives him credit for, considerably faster than Mauer.  But I think Sano to the OF is a smoke screen.  I think Plouffe has played his last game for the Twins.

[wavedog]

Now that we have signed Mr. B. Park -  what are some suggestions for his new nickname with the Twins? I'll throw out the first pitch.....

 

"Hit it out of the Ball"  Park  - shortened to just "Ball" Park

 

Happy to have him onboard at a reasonable price!

[Hambino the Great]

 

The team has an existing contract with the player. They shouldn't be compensated for that? What's the point of having a contract? He can always play out his contract in Asia and become a free agent, rather than asking to be posted, right? If the player's agent is realistic with the player about what kind of contract he is likely to get, then he goes into this process with eyes open.

 

I'm not at all sympathetic to Park on the contract issue. He's been hitting a ton in what could only be described as a "minor league." When MLB teams are willing to step up and do something about the way they underpay US minor leaguers, then maybe I'll start being concerned about the poor Asian players who come over and have to figure out how to live on $3 million a year, though they are no more likely to succeed than minor leaguers who put up similar stats in AA/AAA in the states.

Do people forget the crap pay players get in the minors.

[Old Twins Cap]

 

Time to learn the correct pronunciation of our new slugger. Imagine my embarrassment when I've been pronouncing his name very similar to a vulgar term related to an individual's rear end....just heard the correct way to say his name on the nightly news and boy was I off....

 

Not to be crude, but, how do you pronounce his name correctly?  Like, what is the phonetic rendering?

 

And, by no means could it be as crude as the correct Spanish pronunciation of Yoenis Cespedes, which, I noticed, English speaking announcers butchered all through the playoffs, prolly at the behest of executives and sponsors.

[Major League Ready]

 

It's a nice deal. But, I'm confused as to why people so exited about the terms. There isn't a salary cap, or floor, so "saving money" should be irrelevant to everyone but the Pohlads. It certainly doesn't mean they are spending that "saved money" anywhere else. Whether they give him $4m per, or $20m, the 25-man will likely look exactly the same, so what's the difference?

Unfortunately for Park, he didn't have many cards to play I'm that negotiation. Locked into one team, who certainly would have let him walk, at almost 30 years old with an astronomical K rate against awful pitching and no defense. He goes back to re-post on the wrong side of 30, and comes off a down year in Korea, he probably gets peanuts. I'd be pretty upset, if I were his representation, about having to play on that uneven playing field. Borderline extortion in his circumstances. It cost the guy millions that he probably deserves (per an open market). That should be re-examined, IMO.

Politics/Economics aside, it'll be fun to see how this guy adjusts to high-end pitching. Scary to think about trading Plouffe before seeing him in Spring Training, at least. Regardless, with this guys swing, the entertainment value will certainly be there. I'll tune in.

This is a very simplistic view from a financial perspective.  The absence of a cap is irrelevant unless you presume all teams have the same spending capacity regardless of revenue.  Teams with similar or less revenue than the twins are trying to compete with organizations with literally twice the spending capacity.  Production per dollar spent is extremely important when a team can spend twice as much per player on the roster.  That’s why some of us value production per dollar spent.

 

BTW … You also completely ignored the fact that he was under contract with his Korean team for two more years.  They allowed him out of his contract to what I presume is a considerably more lucrative contract and his former team was compensated for losing his services.  You are only look at one side of the equation.

[Homer Hanky]

Sano is much faster than people gives him credit for, considerably faster than Mauer.  But I think Sano to the OF is a smoke screen.  I think Plouffe has played his last game for the Twins.

 

I agree with the smoke screen... and I hope that Plouffe is traded for MANY good bullpen arms! 

[NoCryingInBaseball]

Not to be crude, but, how do you pronounce his name correctly?  Like, what is the phonetic rendering?

 

And, by no means could it be as crude as the correct Spanish pronunciation of Yoenis Cespedes, which, I noticed, English speaking announcers butchered all through the playoffs, prolly at the behest of executives and sponsors.

I’m a little reluctant from providing the phonetic pronunciation of Byung Ho Park’s name because I think my earlier comment was interpreted as making fun of his name, when I really was pronouncing it incorrectly and I was embarrassed about my mistake.

It seems that most radio and TV guys are saying “Be-Young Ho”, so that’s my interpretation of the correct phonetic pronunciation of his name.

[Platoon]

I’m a little reluctant from providing the phonetic pronunciation of Byung Ho Park’s name because I think my earlier comment was interpreted as making fun of his name, when I really was pronouncing it incorrectly and I was embarrassed about my mistake.It seems that most radio and TV guys are saying “Be-Young Ho”, so that’s my interpretation of the correct phonetic pronunciation of his name.

I think the definitive pronunciation will be provided by Bert!

[Minniman]

 

Time to learn the correct pronunciation of our new slugger. Imagine my embarrassment when I've been pronouncing his name very similar to a vulgar term related to an individual's rear end....just heard the correct way to say his name on the nightly news and boy was I off....

 

I made a similar post a couple weeks ago.

 

I heard Be-Young Park. Is that what you heard?

 

[NoCryingInBaseball]

I made a similar post a couple weeks ago.

 

I heard Be-Young Park. Is that what you heard?

That's what the general pronunciation has been...although I was just listening to Reusse and he seems to be making the mistake I made up until yesterday.

[sorney]

 

It's a nice deal. But, I'm confused as to why people so exited about the terms. There isn't a salary cap, or floor, so "saving money" should be irrelevant to everyone but the Pohlads. It certainly doesn't mean they are spending that "saved money" anywhere else. Whether they give him $4m per, or $20m, the 25-man will likely look exactly the same, so what's the difference?

Unfortunately for Park, he didn't have many cards to play I'm that negotiation. Locked into one team, who certainly would have let him walk, at almost 30 years old with an astronomical K rate against awful pitching and no defense. He goes back to re-post on the wrong side of 30, and comes off a down year in Korea, he probably gets peanuts. I'd be pretty upset, if I were his representation, about having to play on that uneven playing field. Borderline extortion in his circumstances. It cost the guy millions that he probably deserves (per an open market). That should be re-examined, IMO.

Politics/Economics aside, it'll be fun to see how this guy adjusts to high-end pitching. Scary to think about trading Plouffe before seeing him in Spring Training, at least. Regardless, with this guys swing, the entertainment value will certainly be there. I'll tune in.

Any different than an amateur who gets stuck into one team for 6 years, by which time most are almost 30?  Just saying, doesn't seem much different to me.

[USAFChief]

Byung Ho Park.

 

Technically, Pak (rhymes with sock) is actually the Korean family name, Park a common westernization of that name. I have no idea which he prefers.

 

And further, his family name comes first in Korea. Pak Byung Ho. It's common for Koreans to reverse that in the west, but not universal.

 

My qualifications: it was a long time ago, but I'm a graduate of the Korean Dept of the Defense Language Institute.

[Minniman]

 

That's what the general pronunciation has been...although I was just listening to Reusse and he seems to be making the mistake I made up until yesterday.

 

Byung Ho Park.

Technically, Pak (rhymes with sock) is actually the Korean family name, Park a common westernization of that name. I have no idea which he prefers.

And further, his family name comes first in Korea. Pak Byung Ho. It's common for Koreans to reverse that in the west, but not universal.

My qualifications: it was a long time ago, but I'm a graduate of the Korean Dept of the Defense Language Institute.

 

Isn't the "By..." sound a character that is not in English? Is that like "b-yung" but very quickly stated?

 

Is it like the "Ng..." sound in Vietnamese?

[USAFChief]

More Korean language trivia:

 

Hangul is the name of the Korean language. Though the written Korean language originates from Chinese characters, pronunciations and some meanings are different. Further, centuries ago a Korean monarch developed an alphabet system, so written Korean is actually comprised of "letters," much like English. Just to confuse students of the language, though, in South Korea newspapers and the like will toss in a random character here and there, to make the meaning clearer...or so they say!

 

Interestingly, North Koreans avoid using characters, it's all Hangul.

 

To bring this back to Mr Pak, the "P" in "Pak" and the "B" in Byung are actually the same "letter." The "B" gets a slightly different pronunciation because it follows a "consonant"... the "k" in Pak.

 

So technically, if westernized, it should really be Pyung Ho Pak.

[Old Twins Cap]

Thanks.  I don't see anything terribly risky in his name, but, then I am not a moderator at this blog site.

 

I was once cited for calling a Twins decision "stupid" so I don't know what level of paranoia grips the powers that be.

 

May "Pak" hit a thousand long flies into the dying embers of night at Target Field.

[USAFChief]

Isn't the "By..." sound a character that is not in English? Is that like "b-yung" but very quickly stated?

 

Is it like the "Ng..." sound in Vietnamese?

Yes...Byung is as close to one syllable as us westerners can manage.

 

Much like the car is actually "Hyundai."

[Minniman]

 

Yes...Byung is as close to one syllable as us westerners can manage.

Much like the car is actually "Hyundai."

 

I have a good friend that came to the United States as a young boy. In 7th grade his English was poor, but he managed through it. He taught me how to say certain sound forms that English doesn't have, and it was enlightening.

 

When I talk to young second or third generation Vietnamese American students, I notice that their names have been Americanized one way or another. Nguyen is either "Win" or "Newyen". When I use the Vietnamese pronounciation, I am corrected. I find that a bit ironic, but it is now what it is.

 

Thank you for the update. The world is getting flatter every day.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Minniman