Lee Dae-ho's MLB bid at crossroads

Seattle Mariners’ Lee Dae-ho signs autographs for fans before a spring training baseball game against the Colorado Rockies in Scottsdale, Arizona, on March 24. / AP-Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

With the new Major League Baseball (MLB) season just a week away, it is time for Korean players to accelerate their pace of play as teams face a looming deadline.

Among the three Korean position players ― Lee Dae-ho of the Seattle Mariners, Kim Hyun-soo of the Baltimore Orioles and Park Byung-ho of the Minnesota Twins ― joining the big league clubs over the offseason, Lee and Kim are finding it hard to find a spot on the team roster.

Lee has only a day left to see whether he can join the Mariners or find another MLB team.

If the Mariners decide not to place him on their 40-man roster by Monday (KST), Lee will become a free agent because he can exercise his opt-out clause in his minor league deal.

Lee, who has been endeavoring to deserve a much coveted first baseman or a designated hitter slot in the Mariners, went 1-for-4 during spring training against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday (KST), but things are not certain.

During training, Lee has been batting .250 with a home run and 4 RBIs. He is currently competing with Jesus Montero and Stefan Romero to serve as the right-handed complement to lefty-hitting first baseman Adam Lind.

Though a local Seattle newspaper the News Tribune reported Sunday (KST) that “the Mariners appeared to be leaning toward putting Lee on their 40-man roster,” it still doesn’t mean that he is guaranteed to play in the majors because he has to remain in the 25-man roster. Every MLB club is required to pick only 25 players for their day-to-day games and if Lee is only included in the 40-man roster, he has to wait until someone is taken off the 25-man roster.

Things also have not been going well for Kim because his team has talked internally about sending him back to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

Fox Sports reported Sunday (KST) based on anonymous sources that the Orioles tried to release the 28-year-old outfielder, who is struggling in his first MLB spring training so that he could rejoin his team in the KBO as the team did the same thing with Kia Tigers pitcher Yoon Suk-min.

Kim joined the Orioles as a free agent during this offseason with a two-year, $7 million contract. Though he had proved his ability as a strong hitter, recording a .318 batting average with 230 doubles and 142 home runs while playing for the Doosan Bears for 10 seasons, he batted just .182 during spring training. Yoon agreed a three-year contract with the Orioles in 2014, but returned to the KBO after spending a year in the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate team.

Asked if sending Kim back to Korea is realistic, the Orioles general manager Dan Duquette was quoted as saying he doesn’t “know if we’re there yet,” but is “still evaluating” him. The article added the general manager said that “such a decision would not rest solely with the Orioles. Kim would need to affirm that he wants to return to Korea, and a team in the KBO would need to show a willingness to sign him.”

The article also said the general manager “warned against rushing to judgment on Kim,” but the performance Kim showed during the training is questionable as his competitor Joey Rickard has been batting .392 with a home run and 7 RBIs.

Given what the Minnesota Twins’ Park Byung-ho has shown during this spring training, he is likely to win his spot in the 25-man roster to start the season in the majors.

Though he went for 0-for-3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Sunday (KST), he has batted .279 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 43 at bats during training.