[祖國] Cardinals to Sign Korean Reliever

看板Cardinals作者abc12812時間17年前 (2009/01/20 18:58)推噓8(8推 0噓 1→)

留言9則, 6人參與討論串1/1

http://tinyurl.com/7y9y42 要補進祖國牛棚即戰力了 This has been brewing for a few weeks, but Lotte Giants reliever Choi Hyang-nam is expected to sign a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals in the next couple days. This article (in Korean) describes the contract as a minor league deal that will be changed to a major league deal should he make the team out of spring training. Choi is 38, and is an interesting story. He played in America as recently as 2006, when he pitched for the Indians Triple-A Buffalo Bisons team where as a starter he went 8-5 with a 2.37 ERA, striking out 103 in 106 1/3 IP. He wasn’ t called up to the majors, so he returned to Korea where he signed with Lotte. According to the story above Choi had a clause inserted into his Giants contract that the team would post him for free should he ever want to seek a deal in another professional league. Choi was in Lotte’s starting rotation during 2007, but went 5-12 on a bad team. Last year however, under Jerry Royster, Choi reinvented himself as a reliever, and during August and September worked as the team’s main closer until the Giants signed former Rockie Daniel Cortez from the Mexican League. Choi finished 2008 with a 3.58 ERA, going 2-4 with nine saves in 50 1/3 innings. He had planned to pitch for Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican League, but his season was cut short after just 2 1/3 innings. Make no mistake, Choi is an oldster, but he’s in very good condition and has a multiple degree black belt in Taekwondo. He’s 6′2 and weighs about 190 according to his KBO profile page. My guess is he’s in better shape than most players in their early to mid 30s. He’ll also whip their butts in a fight. However, Choi’s stuff isn’t going to blow anyone off the field. I watched Lotte a lot last year and don’t think I ever saw him break 140 km (87 mph). He’s got a slurvy pitch that’s not bad to right handers, but I wouldn’t be too thrilled to send him out against a left-handed major league hitter. Still, I’d like to see him do well. Playing in MLB is obviously a big dream for him and I’d call this the last of the last chances. With a few question marks in the Cardinals bullpen it’s not out of the question that Choi will get a shot. Here are a couple videos of Choi on Korean TV. These things work in IE, but are hit and miss with other browsers. -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.112.5.3