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Korean OF Kim Hyun-soo, Baltimore Orioles agree to two year, $7M deal

December 16, 2015

S. Korean OF Kim Hyun-soo, right, is greeted by teammates after scoring. Kim drove in three runs in two straight games. (Yonhap)

South Korean free agent outfielder Kim Hyun-soo left for Washington D.C. on Thursday, amid rumors of having received multiple offers from Major League clubs. And the latest reports coming out Korea has the 27-year-old having agreed to a two-year, $7 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles.

The deal is contingent upon Kim passing the physical, and he is apparently on his way to take the physical.

Kim, who bats left and throws right, became a free agent this year after completing his equivalent of nine full seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

He posted the best power numbers of his KBO career for the Doosan Bears in 2015 with 28 home runs and 121 RBIs, along with a robust .326/.438/.488 line. Long known for his ability to put the ball in play, Kim struck out only 63 times in 630 plate appearances while drawing 101 walks. Kim is a career .318 hitter, the second-highest average among all active players with at least 3,000 plate appearances, and has a career on-base percentage of .406.

Dan Duquette, the O’s executive vice president of baseball operations, has a long history of tapping into the Asian market. While he was the general manager for the Boston Red Sox from 1994 to 2002, Duquette signed three South Korean pitchers — Kim Sun-woo, Cho Jin-ho and Lee Sang-hoon — all of whom reached the majors during his tenure.

With Duquette in the fold, the Orioles previously signed three South Korean pitchers, including former KBO MVP Yoon Suk-min. Yoon spent one year in the O’s minor league and never reached the majors.

Kim is represented by Los Angeles-based Wasserman Media Group (WMG). The Atlanta Braves and the Oakland Athletics were among other teams that apparently took interest in Kim, who can also play first base.

Kim had said during the KBO Golden Glove Awards ceremony on Dec. 8, that his future would likely be determined, one way or another, “within 10 days.”

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*Yonhap materials were used in this article.