Baseball Player Oh Seung Hwan Is No Longer A Free Agent: Pitcher Signs Contract With Major League Team St. Louis Cardinals
After being a free agent in Asia for quite sometime, South Korean professional baseball player Oh Seung Hwan is now aiming for greater heights as he moves to the United States to play for the St. Louis Cardinals in the Major League Baseball (MLB).
Oh sealed a one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals Monday noon. Although no exact figures were revealed yet, the contract, including a club option for a second season, could be valued at $5 million, St. Louis Today noted.
SB Nation also reported that the deal likely puts the Cardinals at around $140 million for the Opening Day payroll in 2016.
The Cardinals has acknowledged Oh's achievement and excellent statistics. The 33-year-old righthander has 357 career saves under his belt. He also hit a 28-13 record in the Korean Basaball Association (KBO), with a 1.74 ERA. He also made 625 strikeouts in 510 1/3 innings.
In 2014, he held a record of 39 saves with a 1.76 ERA while striking out 81 in 66 2/3 innings. In 2015, he scored 41 saves despite playing with an injured leg.
Oh Seung Hwan said through an interpreter that his long-time dream has come true. According to SportsNet, Oh has long been wishing to play in the major leagues ever since.
Recently, the Cardinals have turned to Asia market in search for energetic and talented sportsmen. Yonhap News reported that he is the third South Korean plater to sign with an MLB team this off-season. The other two include Park Byung Ho of the Minnesota Twins and Kim Hyun Soo of the Baltimore Orioles, both of whom previously played for the KBO.
Additionally, Oh is the fourth South Korean to go from KBO to NPB and MLB.
It is alleged that the Cardinals will hire a full-time interpreter for Oh. Manager Mike Matheny said that it should not be a big deal because the interpreter will give Oh a chance to adjust to the United States and deal with mound conferences.
Amidst allegations that other rivals have been more active during the off-season, Matheny expressed his confidence and said he would take his team to spring training next month.
"Ultimately, I'm not all that bullish on necessarily chasing something right now," Matheny said.
