Hyeon-Jong Yang Expected To Pursue MLB Opportunities This Winter

Kia Tigers lefty Hyeon-jong Yang is expected to explore offers from MLB teams this winter, Jeeho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency tweets. The former KBO MVP is wrapping up a two-year deal with the same Tigers club with which he’s spent the past 14 seasons.

If Yang’s name sounds familiar to MLBTR readers, it’s likely due to the fact that the Tigers posted the southpaw for big league clubs back in the 2014-15 offseason. That was in the days of a since restructured posting system between MLB and the KBO, wherein all 30 big league clubs had the option of submitting a blind bid on what release fee they’d pay a player’s club. Yang’s Tigers did not feel that the winning bid — believed to be submitted by the Rangers — was enticing enough to part with their top pitcher.

Yang returned to the KBO and even signed a pair of free-agent deals with the Kia organization, but he’ll now apparently gauge MLB interest this winter. As a 14-year pro, he’s exempt from international signing restrictions and can sign a Major League contract for any amount or length.

The 2020 season hasn’t been a strong one for Yang, however, as his 4.46 ERA is his highest mark since the 2012 season. That said, Yang also ranks 14th among KBO pitchers with a 4.02 FIP (min. 50 innings pitched), and this year’s 8.1 K/9 mark is his highest since the 2014 season that led to his original posting.

With restrictions, fans set to return to SKorean baseball

South Korea’s professional baseball league says it will require fans to wear masks and to sit at least a seat apart as it prepares to bring back spectators in the coming weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Korea Baseball Organization on Tuesday said fans will also not be allowed to eat food in the stands. Teams will be initially allowed to sell only 30% of the seats for each game, a figure that could be expanded to as much as 50% depending on the progress in the country’s anti-virus efforts, according to the league’s plans.

Fans will also be screened for fevers and discouraged from excessive shouting, singing and cheering during the game to prevent contact or dispersion of droplets, the KBO said. And perhaps as a means of discouraging any boisterous behavior, beer will also be banned and fans will only be allowed to drink water or non-alcoholic beverages.

Why Matt Williams left the A’s to manage a team in Korea

The desire to manage again ate at him. But the outlook for him was not promising.

“I think that anytime you don’t accomplish what you want to accomplish you feel a little bit of an empty belly,” Williams said last week by phone from Deagu, South Korea, where his team was preparing to play the Samsung Lions. “I wanted to give it another try. And it didn’t seem as if there would be an opportunity in the U.S. to do so immediately. anyway.”

Williams talked it over with his wife and children. He talked it over with Melvin and A’s executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane. Beane told him a managerial job in Korea wouldn’t guarantee the same back home.

“I’m fully aware of that,” Williams said. “But this was put out in front of me. I decided to go ahead accept and pour my energy into this. It’s not what I’m used to, but sometimes it’s good for you to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

Former Cardinals translator Eugene Koo is talking a different game | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com

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