Lee Jung-hoo (26), who is about to enter the major leagues after evaluating Korean professional baseball, has been named one of the top 10 hitters in free agency.굿모닝토토
MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, announced the top 10 free agent hitters on its official social media accounts on July 17 (KST). This is a ranking based on pure hitting ability.
Lee was ranked No. 8 on the list, second only to Cody Bellinger among center fielders. This is why his projected price tag is so high.
Shohei Ohtani tops the list, followed by Cody Bellinger and J.D. Martinez. Jorge Soler and Matt Chapman round out the top five.
Teoscar Hernandez and Reece Hoskins rounded out the top five, followed by Lee Jung-hoo, Justin Turner and Rueredes Gurriel Jr. in the ninth through 10th spots.
Earlier, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) revealed that it received a request from the Major League Baseball (MLB) office for a background check on Lee on March 15.
This is part of the process to get into the major leagues. Now, Lee is expected to make it to the major leagues through the posting system.
The contract is expected to be the largest in Korean history. There are already speculations that the contract will total more than $50 million.