Shim Jun-seok agrees to contract with Pittsburgh… Choi Ji-man, Bae Ji-hwan and Hansotbap
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- on Jan 16, 2023
Deoksu High School right-hander Shim Jun-seok (19), who chose to challenge the American Major League (MLB), wears a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform.
The Pittsburgh club announced on the 16th (Korean time) that it had agreed to a contract with Shim Jun-seok.
Previously, MLB.com disclosed the status of international amateur player contracts with MLB clubs, and said, “Pittsburgh has agreed to contracts with Korean pitcher Shim Jun-seok and Dominican Republic outfielder Raymond Mora.”
The 30 MLB teams can sign international amateur players under the age of 25 (players over the age of 16 from outside the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico) from January 15, local time in the United States.
On this day, the international amateur player contract fee limit is also renewed. Pittsburgh can spend $5,825,500 (about 7.23 billion won) on international amateur players from this day to December 15 this year.
Shim Jun-seok’s trip to Pittsburgh was expected. Previously, The Athletic, an American sports media outlet, reported on the 12th, “The possibility of Sim Jun-seok, who ranked 10th in the international prospect rankings selected by MLB.com, going to Pittsburgh is increasing.”
MLB.com announced the news of Shim Jun-seok’s contract and said, “Shim Jun-seok throws a fast ball with a maximum speed of 100 miles (about 161 km) and an average speed of 94 to 96 miles per hour. , He controls his pitches well,” he said. “Shim Jun-seok, who has excellent physical conditions, is improving his pitching form and physical ability.”
“Shim Jun-seok’s slider and change-up are also getting better, so he can become a plus pitch in the future,” he said.
Park Chan-ho, the first major leaguer in Korea, also used fast balls and curveballs as his main weapons and won 124 wins in the big leagues.
Shim Joon-seok is also a right-handed pitcher who throws fastballs in the late 150km/h range, and since his freshman year at Deoksu High School, he threw a ball that exceeded 150km/h and drew attention as a super high school level prospect.
Shim Jun-seok, who was considered the biggest high school player, announced his move to the United States ahead of the 2023 KBO rookie draft. Earlier, he signed with Scott Boras, who is known as a super agent in the major leagues.
Pittsburgh, which has consistently pushed for a contract with Shim Jun-seok, made the signing official when the contract for an international amateur player began.
Pittsburgh is a team with a deep relationship with Koreans.
The last team Park Chan-ho played 먹튀검증 for in the US in 2010 was Pittsburgh. Infielder Kang Jeong-ho had his heyday in Pittsburgh, and Park Hyo-jun also played for this team in 2021-2022.
Currently, infielders Choi Ji-man and Bae Ji-hwan are in Pittsburgh. Bae Ji-hwan has been playing for Pittsburgh since 2018, and Choi Ji-man made a new nest in Pittsburgh through a trade in November of last year.
Attention is also drawn to the size of Shim Jun-seok’s contract.
According to MLB.com reports, he signed a contract of 5.6 million dollars (approximately 6.95 billion won) to Venezuelan catcher Ethan Salas, the number one international prospect.
Cuban outfielder Brandon Maeya, ranked 9th by MLB.com as an international prospect, signed a contract with the New York Yankees for $4.4 million, and Cuban outfielder Ariel Castro, ranked 11th, chose to go to the Minnesota Twins for $2.5 million.
It is possible that Shim Jun-seok, who is ranked 10th in the ranking, received a similar down payment.
The Korean player who received the most money ever while signing with an MLB team as an amateur is pitcher Kim Byung-hyun, who signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1999 for $2.25 million.