Deoksu High School right-handed pitcher Shim Jun-seok (19), who was highly anticipated as a high school baseball pitcher, will begin his American professional baseball career wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform.
MLB.com reported on the 16th (Korean time), “Pittsburgh has agreed to sign with Shim Jun-seok, who is ranked 10th in the international prospect rankings.” The exact amount of Shim Jun-seok’s down payment is not known. However, it is predicted that it will reach at least 3 million dollars. 메이저놀이터
Previously, Brandon Maya (Cuba, outfielder), ranked ninth in the prospect ranking ahead of Shim Jun-seok, signed a contract with the New York Yankees for $4.4 million. Given that Ariel Castro (Cuba, outfielder), ranked 11th after Shim Jun-seok, also signed a contract with the Minnesota Twins for $2.5 million, it is highly likely that Shim Jun-seok will also receive a down payment in the meantime.
The 30 major league teams have a set amount of money that can be spent on contracts for international amateurs. The club has to sign players while arranging a down payment for one year.
On January 15, local time in the United States, Major League Baseball renews the ‘download limit for international amateur players under the age of 25’. Pittsburgh can spend $5,825,500 (about 7.23 billion won) on signing international amateur players from this day to December 15th.
For reference, the San Diego Padres signed a contract with Venezuelan catcher Ethan Salas, the number one international prospect, for $5.6 million (approximately 6.95 billion won).
MLB.com introduced Shim Jun-seok as ‘Korea’s best prospect’. She said, “It forms an average of 94 to 96 miles (about 151 to 154 km) with a maximum speed of 100 miles (about 161 km).” introduced.
MLB.com said, “The slider and changeup could also become ‘plus pitches’ in the future,” and evaluated, “Park Chan-ho’s appearance of throwing fast balls and pitching calmly from his early teens was compared to his childhood.”
Coincidentally, Pittsburgh was also the last major league club where Park Chan-ho, the ‘Korean Express’ who won 124 victories in the big leagues, was last. Currently, Pittsburgh also has Korean big leaguers Choi Ji-man and Bae Ji-hwan.
Shim Jun-seok, who has been receiving attention from major league clubs since his sophomore year of high school, drew great expectations as the top prospect in the Korean Professional Baseball KBO draft last year. But in the end, he chose to go to the United States without submitting a draft application.