Update: The Twins told 1500 ESPN they have not been told that they’ve won the bidding.
Twins win bid for Korean LHP Hyeon-jong Yang, per report
Minnesota will have 30 days to negotiate a contract with the 26-year-old lefty.
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
South Korean pitcher Hyeon-jong Yang is one step closer to joining the major leagues. The Minnesota Twins won the bid for the 26-year-old left-handed pitcher from the Kia Tigers in the Korean Baseball Organization, per Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press.
The Twins will have 30 days to work out a contract with Yang. If no contract agreement is reached, the bid isn’t paid and Yang would return to Korea.
Yang, who turns 27 in March, was 16-8 with a 4.25 ERA in 28 starts with Kia in 2014, with 73 walks and a career-high 157 strikeouts in 165 innings, tied for the league lead in wins and third in strikeouts. He won the inaugural Choi Dong-won Award, given to the top South Korean pitcher in the KBO.
“Yang projects as a No. 3 starter in the big-leagues, though according to a scout that has seen him throw, he could develop into a No. 2,” wrote Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News on Nov. 4. “With a fastball that sits between 92-95 mph, Yang throws four pitches - fastball, curveball, slider and changeup - using his slider as his out pitch.”
Berardino’s source, however, projects Yang as “a No. 3 or No. 4 starter.”
Yang is the biggest-name pitcher to come out of the KBO since Hyun-jin Ryu in 2012. The Dodgers paid the Hanwha Eagles $25.7 million for the rights to negotiate with Ryu, then signed the left-hander to a six-year, $36 million contract. Ryu is 28-15 with a 3.17 ERA in 56 starts in two years with the Dodgers.
Yang and Ryu were teammates on the gold medal-winning South Korea team in the 2010 Asian Games, and Yang also pitched in the 2014 Asian Games.
In eight seasons in the KBO, Yang was 62-42 with a 4.33 ERA, with 740 strikeouts in 860⅓ innings.
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