Finally, Go Woo-seok achieved his dream. With only a few hours left before the posting system deadline, his destination was the San Diego Padres.
The New York Post, a local U.S. media outlet, announced on the 4th (Korean time), “Go Woo-seok signed a two-year contract with San Diego for $4.5 million (approximately 5.9 billion won).”
According to the LG Twins team on the afternoon of the previous day (the 3rd), “Go Woo-seok recently received an offer from a major league club in accordance with the Major League Baseball (MLB) posting process,” and “LG Twins is a major league team that sent an offer out of respect for the player’s wishes.” “I decided to send it to ,” he said. LG then added, “Go Woo-seok left for the United States on the 3rd to proceed with the contract, including a medical test.”
Literally, Go Woo-seok’s contract was dramatic in itself. Go Woo-seok’s dream of becoming a major leaguer began on November 28 last year when the LG Twins requested the KBO to post Go Woo-seok, and on December 5, the MLB Secretariat notified 30 clubs that posting had begun on December 4, making his official posting official. The road has been opened. Negotiations began at 8 a.m. on December 5 (US Eastern Time) in accordance with the Korea-US Player Contract Agreement, and he was given 30 days of posting time. The deadline for Ko Woo-seok’s posting contract was 7 a.m. on January 4, Korean standard. 먹튀검증사이트
The day before the posting deadline approached, John Heyman, a prominent major league reporter, posted on his personal SNS (social network service) on the morning of the 3rd (Korean time), “The contract between Korean right-hander Ko Woo-seok and the San Diego Padres is imminent. Go Woo-seok is in San Diego. “(Korean righthander Woo Suk Go close to signing with Padres. Likely to be their closer),” he said, and Go Woo-seok’s contract, which had been previously unknown, came to fruition overnight.
Go Woo-seok’s dream path to the Major League began on November 14 last year with the news that the Major League Baseball (MLB) Secretariat requested the KBO to “request the identity of LG Go Woo-seok.” The next day, the KBO notified the Major League Secretariat that Go Woo-seok was a member of the LG Twins.
The status inquiry request process is a preliminary procedure that an overseas club must go through before recruiting a domestic player playing in the KBO League. If a major league club has an ‘intention to recruit’ the player, the major league secretariat requests the league to conduct an inquiry. Therefore, looking at this procedure alone, it was an appropriate condition for Go Woo-seok to dream of the ‘American Dream’.
Afterwards, Go Woo-seok’s agent, Lee Ye-rang of Ricoh Agency, made his move. This agent met with LG general manager Cha Myeong-seok and conveyed Go Woo-seok’s clear intention to advance to the major leagues, and the LG club also allowed participation in the posting system (private public bidding) after internal discussion.
However, this was a ‘conditional permission’ from the LG club. If the posting amount is unreasonably low or not the amount the LG club thinks, it contains a condition that he must remain at LG next season. Instead, LG’s actions were very fast. 12 days after Go Woo-seok received the request for identity verification, the posting request was resolved in a breeze.
Originally, Go Woo-seok planned to challenge the major leagues after completing next year’s season and becoming eligible as a free agent. However, his status was checked by the major leagues, and he faced the opportunity to challenge the major leagues sooner than he had planned.
Go Woo-seok graduated from Chungam High School and joined LG as a first-round pick in the 2017 rookie draft. His KBO league career record is 354 games, 19 wins, 26 losses, 6 holds, 139 saves, and an ERA of 3.18, making him a leading closing pitcher in the league.
Last year, he showed 100% of his true potential. Go Woo-seok won the save king title with an ERA of 1.48 and 42 saves. However, he suffered from minor injuries this season and faltered somewhat. Go Woo-seok participated in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team held last March, but was unable to play a single game due to a neck injury suffered during a practice game. Even after entering the regular league, shoulder and back injuries overlapped, leaving behind disappointing results compared to previous years with 3 wins, 8 losses, 15 saves, and an ERA of 3.68 in 44 games this season.
Even when LG won the Korean Series for the first time in 29 years since 1994, it showed signs of instability. Go Woo-seok was disappointed with 4⅓ innings, 1 win, 1 loss, 1 save, and an ERA of 8.31 in 4 games in the Korean Series. Nevertheless, he remained Korea’s representative closing pitcher and continued to receive attention from the major leagues.
After news of Go Woo-seok’s post spread, local media also began to take action. On November 22, MLB Trade Rumors, a local U.S. media outlet, reported the news of Go Woo-seok’s posting permission and said, “Korea’s LG club has approved Go Woo-seok’s posting. LG will reexamine the posting decision after the market materializes.”
He continued, “Go Woo-seok, who is 25 years old this year, was caught on MLB’s radar last week. MLB requested a background check, which is the normal procedure that goes through when multiple big league clubs show interest in KBO players who are eligible for posting.” “There is no guarantee that he will sign with a major league team. Once the posting becomes official, a 45-day period is given to negotiate with the major league team. If a contract is not signed within this period, Go Woo-seok will return to the LG Twins,” he explained.
MLB Trade Rumors referred to Go Woo-seok as ‘Korea’s best pitcher.’ The media said, “Go Woo-seok, who played at Korea’s highest level for seven seasons, had an earned run average of 3.18. Although he struggled in the first two years of his debut, he posted an earned run average of 2.17 or higher in three of the following four seasons.” introduced. He continued, “However, in 2023, the average ERA jumped to 3.68 in 44 games. He struck out opposing batters with a 31.1% probability, but he walked the opposing batters at a rate of 11.8%,” he said.
At the same time, he praised, “However, Go Woo-seok showed good ball control in 2021 and 2022. He showed a batting average of over 28% for three consecutive seasons.” The media also mentioned that Go Woo-seok was included in FanGraphs’ list of 40 prospects last season. “Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs selected Go Woo-seok as a top 40 prospect,” he said. “According to Longenhagen’s report, Go Woo-seok’s velocity is in the mid-90s, reaching up to 98 mph, so he could play as a middle relief pitcher for a major league team. “It is expected that Go Woo-seok will be competitive,” he said, adding, “Go Woo-seok is a fastball pitcher who has over 30 saves three times in Korea.”
On November 26, Dodgers Way, run by local American media outlet Fanside, referred to Go Woo-seok as a star Korean closer and introduced him as a free agent pitcher that the Dodgers are looking for. Dodgers Way said, “Another interesting free agent for the Dodgers has officially hit the market. The Dodgers left something to be desired with their pitching rotation in the postseason, and did not even have hopes for a rebound,” adding, “This offseason, the Dodgers are looking for as many options as possible.” “We need to reinforce many of our pitching staff. Korean closing pitcher Ko Woo-seok, who is allowed to post in the major leagues, is a candidate for recruitment,” he said.
He continued, “Go Woo-seok is a fastball right-handed pitcher who recorded 334 strikeouts in 275.1 innings over the past five seasons in the KBO League. He is only 25 years old, and is expected to be able to sign a three-year contract worth about $24 million (about 31.1 billion won).” I looked ahead.
In addition, the media said, “The key is how the Dodgers’ overseas scouts view the destructive power of Go Woo-seok’s fastball and curveball. Over the past few years, the Dodgers have not shown good results despite paying huge salaries to bullpen pitchers such as Shelby Miller and Alex Reyes. This issue has been resolved. “To do this, we need a solid recruit this offseason,” he said, adding, “Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto is also a target, but we should also think about recruiting Go Woo-seok, a Korean bullpen resource.”
Here, the Belleville-News-Demercrat, a daily newspaper in Missouri, Illinois, USA, reported on the 28th, “The Major League Winter Meetings will be held in Nashville next week. In this situation, the St. Louis Cardinals are expected to target Go Woo-seok and aim to strengthen their bullpen. It is visible,” the report said.
Redbird Lantz, who covers the St. Louis Cardinals news, also selected the ‘Ranking of international pitcher options that St. Louis can sign’ on the 3rd of this month and gave the best evaluation to Go Woo-seok.
The media said, “You should pay attention to Go Woo-seok. He has been one of the best relief pitchers in the KBO League since 2021. After recording 30 saves and an ERA of 2.17 in 2021, he recorded an ERA of 1.48 with 42 saves in 2022. Due to the aftermath of injury last year, “Although his ERA was only 3.68, his strikeout rate steadily increased from 10.6 per 9 innings in 2021 to 12.1 last year.”
He continued, “There is no guarantee that Go Woo-seok’s talent will work in the major leagues. However, it is worth taking the risk through a short-term contract at a low cost. St. Louis has already seen the effects of recruiting Kim Kwang-hyun in 2020 and 2021. Go Woo-seok and Kim Kwang-hyun have already been successful. “Like this, he will be effective in the bullpen for many years.”
A year later, when New York Post reporter John Heyman reported Go Woo-seok’s trip to San Diego, all directions turned toward San Diego. CBS Sports announced the news of Go Woo-seok’s advancement into the major leagues on the 3rd, saying, “The San Diego Padres are close to signing a contract with Ko Woo-seok,” and “Go Woo-seok recorded an ERA of 3.68, 59 strikeouts, and 22 walks for the LG Twins in 2023. The 25-year-old Go Woo-seok “He made 139 saves in 7 seasons in the KBO League.”
Here, he predicted, “Go Woo-seok will compete with Robert Suarez and Yuki Matsui for the finishing position in San Diego. However, Go Woo-seok will overtake them and gain the upper hand in the competition.”
With Go Woo-seok’s trip to San Diego, ‘brother-in-law’ Go Woo-seok and ‘brother-in-law’ Lee Jeong-hoo will be playing on the Major League stage side by side. This marks the first time in Korean baseball history that a family member enters the major league. Previously, Lee Jung-hoo signed a six-year contract worth up to $113 million (about 145.6 billion won) with the San Francisco Giants. The American media also paid attention to this aspect. Major League Trade Rumors said, “Go Woo-seok and Lee Jung-hoo are brother-in-law and brother-in-law. If both players advance to the major leagues, they may prefer to cheer on each other from close quarters. However, the most important thing for them is the contract period and amount.”
In addition, Ko Woo-seok not only got to eat together with Kim Ha-seong in San Diego, but also met Lee Jeong-hoo and the LA Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the same National League Western Division. Each of them offers something to see called a ‘mini Korea-Japan battle’. In particular, the San Diego Padres will play in front of Korean fans against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 20th and 21st, as well as additional event games. As the historic opening game of the 2024 Major League Baseball season was held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, Ha-seong Kim and Woo-seok Ko had the opportunity to say hello to Korean fans.
Meanwhile, in accordance with the regulations stipulating that the transfer fee must be paid to the original club (LG) according to the Korea-US Player Contract Agreement, LG also received the transfer fee. This means that if the guaranteed contract amount is less than $25 million, the major league club will pay 20% of the contract deposit, and if the guaranteed contract amount is less than $50 million, the major league club will pay 17.5% of the amount exceeding $5 million and $25 million. , if the guaranteed contract amount exceeds $50 million, the major league club will receive $9.375 million and 15% of the amount exceeding $50 million, and if there is a bonus or club option in addition to the guaranteed contract amount, the player will receive a LG plans to receive a total transfer fee of $900,000 (approximately KRW 1.17 billion), which corresponds to paying 15% to the original club.