It looks like the San Francisco Giants have more than just a passing interest in Lee Jung-hoo, 25, of Kiwoom.바카라사이트
Major league officials showing up at Kiwoom games is no longer news. It’s no surprise that ace Ahn Woo-jin and KBO’s best second baseman Kim Hye-sung are being closely watched, not to mention Lee Jeong-hoo, who is headed to the majors via the Korean-American Posting System after this season.
Most of the time, Asian player personnel directors or managers visit stadiums in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Kiwoom’s home stadium, Gocheok Sky Dome. However, a San Francisco Giants official visited KIA Champions Field in Gwangju on the 27th and made a splash.
It wasn’t even a low-level official. It was confirmed that the club sent its director of scouting, not the Asian player representative. “I couldn’t confirm the name, position, or rank,” said a Kiwoom official, “but I also visited the Scottsdale spring training camp once. We met with the club representative and asked some questions about Lee Jung-hoo. It was his first visit to Korea.” Kiwoom will start ace Ahn Woo-jin against the Gwangju KIA on the 28th. If the official watches the game on the 28th, he will be able to see Lee Jung-hoo, Ahn Woo-jin, and Kim Hesung at the same time.
For about three weeks in early to mid-February, the reporter traveled to Scottsdale and Tucson, Arizona, to cover the spring camps of the Kiwoom, LG, Hanwha, Kia, NC, and WBC national teams. Kiwoom’s camp was the most frequented by major league scouts. San Francisco officials were watching Lee everywhere we went. Although the camp was provided by the Arizona Diamondbacks, I saw more San Francisco officials than Arizona officials.
According to the KIA official, San Francisco has a history of sending various officials to home games, but the official could not recall any instances of sending officials to local games. The KIA official also could not recall any major league officials coming to Gwangju.
It’s hard to know exactly what San Francisco’s true feelings are toward Lee at this point, but the first official to arrive in South Korea on the day seemed to keep asking the head of Kiwoom’s operations team questions. Taken together, this suggests that San Francisco’s feelings toward Lee may not be just a matter of interest.
The Giants have defied expectations through 27 games and are in second place in the National League West (44-34). They are 2.5 games behind first-place Arizona. If Lee ends up with the Giants this winter, he will become a division rival to his best friend, Ha Sung Kim (San Diego Padres).