Professional baseball Kiwoom Heroes Kim Hye-sung has made his dream of entering the big leagues by signing a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Major League.
The Athletic reporter Fabian Ardaya said on his SNS on the 4th (Korea time), "Kim Hye-sung agreed to a three-year guarantee contract of $12.5 million (about 18.4 billion won) with the Dodgers. Since then, there is a two-year club option until 2028, so the contract could be up to $22 million (about 32.4 billion won) for 3+2 years."
Kim Hye-sung, who joined Nexen (currently Kiwoom) as a first-round pick (7th) in the second round of the 2017 rookie draft, played as a leading player in the league with a batting average of 343 games in 953 games (3,043 hits in 3,433 times at bat), 37 homers, 386 RBIs, 591 runs, 211 steals, and OPS.767. He became the first star of the Golden Glove by winning the Shortstop Golden Glove in 2021, and won the Golden Glove by second baseman for the third consecutive year from 2022 to 2024. Kim Hye-sung is the first person in KBO league history to win both the Shortstop and the second baseman Golden Glove.
Kim conveyed her intention to post to the club ahead of the last season. Kiwoom also accepted Kim's request and allowed her to advance to the Major League. Kim, who spent her last season in the KBO, had a batting average of 326 (66 hits in 509 times at bat) in 127 games with 11 homers, 75 RBIs, 90 runs and 30 steals, OPS.841. When Kim announced her advance to the Major League, many big league clubs showed interest in her, and it was easy to find Major League scouts who came to see her at the Gocheok Dome last year.
After the season ended, Kim started posting as scheduled. She departed for Los Angeles on Nov. 29 last year to have smooth negotiations with Major League teams, and officially posted by the Major League secretariat at 2 a.m. on Dec. 5, starting negotiations with 30 Major League teams. She took active actions by including the Major League's winter meeting period in the posting negotiations.
However, Kim returned to Korea on Dec. 23 last year after failing to confirm her contract quickly. As she is currently serving as an art and sports agent in lieu of an active duty, her overseas stay is restricted under the Military Service Act. There were many predictions that there would be no major problems with her Major League contract, but as the deadline approached, some began to say that she could stay at Kiwoom. However, Kim signed a contract with the Dodgers and successfully advanced to the Major League as expected. The deal was reached dramatically with about three hours left before the deadline of posting at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
Kiwoom is an active team in which its players are highly active in advancing to the Major League. Four players, including Kang Jung-ho, Park Byung-ho (Samsung), Kim Ha-sung and Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco), have successfully advanced to the Major League. Watching Kim and his teammates go to bigger stages, Kim dreamed of advancing to the Major League.
When Kim Hye-sung's contract was announced, Kiwoom said, "Congratulations on Kim Hye-sung's advance to the Major League. I am very proud to become the best team in the Major League, and all members of the Heroes are proud. I thank Kim Hye-sung for bringing me good news."
"The Major League is a dream stage for baseball players," Kiwoom said. "Only the best players can play. That's why challenging posting and achieving results is a great achievement in itself. We also look forward to positive effects that will enhance the overall status of the KBO League beyond the team's performance," Kim said, cheering for Kim to perform well in the Major League. 먹튀검증