The Minnesota Twins won the rights to Korean first baseman Byung Ho Park on Monday.
According to the Associated Press, the Twins won the rights to Park with a bid of $12.85 million. It the second largest bid that has been paid to negotiate with an Asian player, behind the $13 million the Seattle Mariners paid for Ichiro Suzuki. If Park and the Twins don’t agree to a contract, then Park's team. the Nexen Heroes, won’t get the posting fee. That fee wasn’t disclosed by Major League Baseball or the Twins.
Park has played for the Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization since 2005. He is a two-time MVP in the KBO and has become a star player the last four seasons. He hit .343/.436/.714 with 53 homeruns and 146 RBIs with the Heroes this season, according to MLB.com. In the last two seasons he has a combined 105 homeruns and has driven in at least 100 runs in each of the last four seasons.
Park could be the second player from the KBO to sign with a major league team, joining Jung Ho Kang who signed a four-year, $11 million deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates last year. The Twins have 30 days to sign Park to a contract. Park will remain under control of the Heroes during that time.