Will Kim Hye-sung, an empty-handed return home without an official announcement, achieve his dream of entering ML through a 'buzzer beater contract' like Ko Woo-seok, a 'best friend' a year ago

Will Kim Hye-sung, an empty-handed return home without an official announcement, achieve his dream of entering ML through a 'buzzer beater contract' like Ko Woo-seok, a 'best friend' a year ago

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Will Kim Hye-sung (25) who is seeking to advance to the Major League, be able to launch a dramatic buzzer-beater contract official ahead of the posting deadline like his "best friend" Ko Woo-seok (26) a year ago.

Kim Hye-sung, who is seeking to advance to the Major League, left for the U.S. at the end of last month and returned to Korea on the 23rd after a four-week schedule. He spent nearly 20 days in the U.S. after the posting was officially announced on the 5th, but failed to return home with a big league contract.
The reason he returned to Korea without completing the contract is that he is still a "military man." Kim Hye-sung, who received a special military service exemption for the Hangzhou Asian Games gold medal, has yet to complete all her volunteer work hours, so her overseas stay is limited. He is expected to return to Korea to comply with the military service law and then head to the U.S. once the contract proceeds.

However, it cannot be seen in a positive light that the contract has not been completed. There is room for interpretation that the Major League club did not have that much interest or that the contract was not offered as satisfactory as expected.
Kim has posted a batting average of 0.304 (3,433 at-bats, 1,043 hits) of 37 homers, 386 RBIs, 591 runs and 211 steals in eight seasons of the KBO League, which clearly shows that she is still young at 25 years old, has outstanding defense capability and flagship skill. However, from the perspective of the Major League teams, there are question marks over her ability to play other positions except for the second baseman. Although she has shown improvement in her contact skills, power and vision every year, she still lacks confidence that she will work in the big leagues. 안전놀이터
Last winter, Kim Hye-sung's best friends, Lee Jung-hoo and Ko Woo-suk, applied for posting side by side. Lee Jung-hoo, who had been in the spotlight of Major League Baseball early on, reportedly signed a six-year, $113 million mega contract with the San Francisco Giants less than 10 days before the posting was announced. On the other hand, Ko Woo-suk remained quiet until the end of the year.

Ko Woo-seok, who thought his advance to the big league would be canceled, received an offer from San Diego on January 3 this year, a day before the posting deadline. Ko Woo-seok, who left for the U.S. in a hurry, proceeded with the mechanical test and the contract was announced on the 4th, the deadline for posting.
Coincidentally, Kim Hye-sung also started posting on December 5th and is due at 7 a.m. (Korean time) on January 4th next year. There is a possibility that he, like Ko Woo-seok, is close to the deadline for negotiations and the news of the contract will be heard.

Some teams are clearly interested in Kim. The U.S. media "Sports Illustrated" said in an article titled "The Los Angeles Angels are aggressively seeking to recruit Korean FA infielders. The Seattle Mariners and Angels are known to need second baseman, and the San Diego Padres are looking for a versatile infield utility player. "The Angels have expressed their greatest interest in Kim."

Attention is focusing on whether Kim Hye-sung's dream of entering the U.S. will become a reality within 2024 or conclude with a dramatic "Buzzer Beater Contract" like a friend.