Twins agree to terms with Korean free agent Byung-ho Park
The Twins have reached a deal with Byung-ho Park.
The Minnesota Twins have come to terms on a deal to bring Korean first baseman Byung-ho Park to the United States. The two sides agreed on Tuesday to contract that will pay the former KBO star $12 million over four years, with an option for a fifth.
Park deal with #Twins: Four years, $12M. Agreement first reported by @JonHeymanCBS.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 1, 2015
The Twins surprisingly placed the highest bid for the 29-year-old Park when he was posted by his former club, the Nexen Heroes. The usually fiscally conservative Twins bid $12.85 million for the rights to negotiate with Park, a sum that will now fully be forwarded to Nexen since Park has signed on in Minnesota.
Overall, the total investment in Park will reach $25 million when posting fee and contract value are combined. Minnesota had seven days remaining to complete the deal, until his negotiating window would have closed and he returned to Korea for the 2016 season.
Park has been a formidable presence for Nexen over the past few years, connecting for 52 and 53 home runs respectively the past two seasons. In addition to his prodigious power numbers, he also hit for a .343 average, .436 on-base percentage, slugged .714, while driving in 146 runs as well.
He will follow former teammate Jung Ho Kang to the U.S., who had a very productive rookie season for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Park’s place with the Twins immediately is not quite as clear however, they feature a pair of productive first basemen in Joe Mauer and Kennys Vargas in tow already. More likely than not, it will be as a designated hitter. There has been chatter regarding moving Mauer back behind the plate again, as his production is lackluster for the first base position. However, that is unlikely due to his age, injury history and price tag.
Vargas on the other hand, has shown flashes of great power potential over his first two years, and the team could look to develop him side-by-side with Park, as well as Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. Some sort of time share between himself and Park is likely early in the year.