Twins' Park dropped from 40-man roster
Minnesota Twins designated hitter Park Byung-ho, center, celebrates in the dugout after scoring on Kurt Suzuki’s single off a pitch from Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Mat Latos during the second inning of a baseball game in Chicago in this May 6, 2016, file photo. / AP-Yonhap
Korean major leaguer to join spring training
By Baek Byung-yeul
The Minnesota Twins designated Park Byung-ho for assignment Friday (local time), which means the Korean slugger has been removed from the team’s 40-man roster.
The decision came after the Major League Baseball (MLB) club recently signed Matt Belisle to make room for a veteran reliever in the roster. By designating him for assignment, the team has 10 days to trade, release or send the Korean slugger to the minors.
Park was posted after the 2015 season by the Korea Baseball Organization’s (KBO) Nexen Heroes and the Twins won the bidding with a four-year deal worth $12 million. The two-time KBO MVP was expected to make the team’s line up but struggled in his first season, recording a batting average of .191 with 12 home runs, 24 RBIs and 28 runs in 62 games. Then he was sent to the minors in July and underwent season-ending hand surgery the next month.
Though the 30-year-old was dropped from the 40-man roster, the Twins will bring him to spring training.
“We’ll see how things go over the next few days and see if there is an opportunity for him in spring training,” the Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey was quoted as saying in the Minnesota local newspaper, Star Tribune, Saturday.
“Anytime a player transfers from any level ― Triple-A to the majors or from a foreign league ― there will be some challenges,” Falvey said. “Byung-ho handled them as well as anyone could have.”
Park left for the United States on Thursday for personal training before the team opens the spring training later this month. Before departure, Park had said, “I have been working hard because I know what went wrong last year.” He added he has adopted a more compact swing to be able to catch up to fastballs.