(LEAD) MLB tenders status check on free agent outfielder Kim Hyun-soo
(ATTN: ADDS details, photo)
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- Major League Baseball (MLB) has requested a status check on South Korean free agent outfielder Kim Hyun-soo, taking a formal administrative step before a big league club can sign professional players based here, the top domestic league said Tuesday.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said it informed its big league counterpart that Kim is free to sign with any club, home or overseas, he wishes.
Under an agreement between MLB and the KBO, a major league team interested in a South Korean player must go through the background check through the league offices.
After helping South Korea win the Premier 12 tournament last month, Kim, 27, said he'd like to play in MLB "if conditions are right."
Kim became a free agent on Nov. 21. Between Nov. 22 and 28, Kim could only negotiate with his original club, the Doosan Bears, but told the KBO team that he'd first seek opportunities in the majors.
Until Dec. 5, Kim is able to talk with any club other than Doosan in the KBO or any team in foreign leagues.
The final negotiating period for all unsigned KBO free agents to talk to their original clubs as well as other teams is between Dec. 6 and Jan. 15.
Major league scouts took in several Doosan games 2015 and, according to sources, multiple clubs have taken interest in signing the outfielder. In a crowded market for outfielders this winter, Kim will be competing with more established big leaguers such as Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Gordon, Justin Upton and Jason Heyward.
Nicknamed "Hitting Machine" for his ability to put the ball in play, Kim is a career .318 hitter, third among all active players with at least 3,000 plate appearances, and has a career on-base percentage of .406.
He has a career strikeout rate of only 10.5 percent. Kim is tops among all KBO left fielders in defensive innings played (2,633), putouts (590) and assists (21) over the past three seasons.
This year, Kim set career-highs with 28 home runs, 121 RBIs, 103 runs scored and 101 walks. He slashed .326/.438/.541 while playing his typically solid defense in left field and filling in at first base. He missed only three games in the 144-game season and struck out just 63 times.
Kim, listed at 188 centimeters and 100 kilograms (6-foot-2 and 220 pounds), won the batting title in 2008 with a .357 average, and led the KBO in hits in 2008 and 2009.
He has also been a strong performer in international events. Kim was named the MVP of the Premier 12, with a .333 batting average (11-for-33) and 13 RBIs, tied for the tournament lead.
Prior to the Premier 12, he had played 30 games at the Summer Olympics in 2008, the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014 and the World Baseball Classics in 2009 and 2013, with a batting average of .404 (42-for-104), 19 RBIs and 12 extra-base hits.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
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