We learned last week that the Pirates were close to a deal with Korean infielder Jung-ho Kang, and we got a little bit more confirmation of that last night when Jeeho Yoo sent out a few tweets saying that Kang would be coming to Pittsburgh this week to take a physical, which seems like a pretty good indication that a deal is imminent. It is worth noting that he’d be coming to America either way, as his Nexen team holds pre-season camp in Arizona, so this trip is not quite as out of the way for him as it might appear at first blush, but it sure seems like this is pretty close to being a done deal.
I’ll hold off for the official signing before doing a full analysis of the move; partly because it seems prudent to wait, and partly because it’s a really interesting move from a baseball standpoint. There are so many things that aren’t clear at the moment — how the Pirates will use Kang given their infield situation, how offense really translates from the KBO to MLB, exactly what the Pirates have on their hands with players like Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer — that make this move unlike anything the Pirates have done in a while. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing (I don’t think that it is, at all), just that it’s taking a bit of time to process it.
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