A new start from Samsung. N's, McKinnon, will the Korean dream come true?
Samsang announced his contract with McKinnon on Sunday afternoon. The deal is worth 1 million U.S. dollars, which is full of guaranteed amount without any incentive such as down payment of 100,000 dollars and annual salary of 900,000 dollars. This means that he believes in others` ability. Born in 1994, he will be 30 next year. He can play first and third basemen as infielders of right-handedness standing at 1m88 and 90kg. The Samsung Lions judged McKinnon as a style similar to Darrin Ruf, who won the title of RBI with his good pitching and excellent contact. McKinnon was selected by the Los Angeles Angels as the 995th overall in 32 rounds in the 2017 draft. Based on his strong performance in Triple-A last year, he was called up by the big league in June and played with Shohei Ohtani. He played in 22 games and recorded a batting average of 14 (7 hits in 50 at-bats). He was assigned to the Oakland Athletics afterwards, and had no hit in 14 at-bats before being released after the season. He entered the Japanese pro baseball league this year. Wearing the Seibu Lions uniform, McKinnon appeared in 127 games and recorded a batting average of 259 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs. He displayed slugging capability, but failed to renew his contract. Samsung did not miss the deal. "Based on his sincere attitude and experience in Japanese baseball, he will quickly adapt to the KBO league," Samsung said. Coincidentally, there was a player who came to Korea from Seibu a day ago. It is LG's N's. N's also failed to renew his contract with Seibu and signed with LG, which showed constant interest. N's also signed a contract for a total of 1 million dollars, with a down payment of 300,000 dollars, an annual salary of 600,000 dollars, and an incentive of 100,000 dollars. Born in 1991, he is three years older than McKinnon. He joined the pro league after being drafted by the New York Yankees in the 19th round in the 2012 draft, and joined the big league after being traded to the Minnesota Twins in 2017. Since then, he has moved to the San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, and Tampa Bay Rays in search of opportunities. He returned to the big league as a bullpen pitcher for Tampa Bay in the 2021 season and pitched nine games. He went to Japan one year earlier than McKinnon. Ness, who signed a contract with Seibu in 2022, pitched 122 ⅓s in 23 games as a starting pitcher, and posted a good 10-7 record with a 2.94 ERA. It was the third time in Japanese pro baseball that a foreign left-handed pitcher had 10 wins during his debut season, and the first foreign left-handed pitcher in 69 years. However, he had the worst season this year with one win, 10 losses and a 5.17 ERA in 12 games. Since Seibu decided not to renew its contract with N.S., LG contacted N.S. and quickly reached an agreement. Then, the team ended up announcing the contract after completing the medical check. "Ditrick N.S. is a pitcher who stands out for durability and steadiness, and he is a pitcher who combines excellent fastball pitching and breaking ball command. Based on his experience in the Japanese professional baseball league, he will quickly adapt to the situation and play the role of the team's first starting pitcher in the 2024 season," the team said. Samsung Electronics picked up McKinnon after breaking up with Jose Pirella who played for three years. Pirella hit .342 with 192 hits, 28 homers and 109 RBIs last year, but only posted a batting average of .285, 159 hits, 16 homers and 80 RBIs this year. McKinnon should display the slugging capability required by his team and play as the center hitter. Given that he hit 15 homers in Japan, he is expected to be able to hit as many homers as possible. N.S. is a pitcher that LG had sought as the first starting pitcher to lead its team to win its second consecutive game. He renewed his contract with Casey Kelly, who had been pitching as the team's ace, but plans to lower his contract to the second starting pitcher now. He found a good first starting pitcher, and assessed that N.S. could play the role well. LG showed overwhelming performance of 11 wins and 2 losses in the first half of the year. If N.S. maintains good pitching without missing out due to injury in the second half of the year, it would have been easier to win the title. If N.S. can display healthy pitching that LG has seen, it will be able to form a competitive one-two punch with Kelly. A teammate who failed to achieve his dream of becoming a major leaguer and gained strength by sharing his strength in Japan will have a two-base hit as a rival team in Korea next year. Although he failed to achieve his dream of becoming a Japanese leaguer, he is now playing for his Korean dream.