Will a baseball conglomerate of a different dimension be born?
Kiwoom Heroes Lee Jung-hoo (24) has made the major league challenge a fait accompli. After the 2023 season, going abroad became influential following the legacy of his father Lee Jong-beom, who had advanced to the Japanese league. His father’s time was an uncommon overseas trip. Even then, he was treated well and moved to Japan. Lee Jung-hoo is likely to create vast wealth more than his father. A generation after generation of baseball conglomerates will emerge.
After the 1997 season, Lee Jong-beom moved to the Chunichi Dragons of the Nippon Pro Baseball. He joined in 1993 and won the Korean Series MVP, and in the 1994 season, he set an absurd record of 3.9 and 84 stolen bases and was named the regular league MVP. He led the Korean Series championship in 1996 and 1997 in a row. The baseball genius, who said he would not change even with a 20-win pitcher, had no place to go up in five years.
Chunichi, which had already recruited pitcher Seon Dong-yeol, selected Lee Jong-beom as the leadoff and shortstop. At that time, Haitai pushed for Lee Jong-beom’s trip to Japan when he faced serious financial difficulties in the aftermath of the parent group’s bankruptcy. In the end, he gave the club a transfer fee of 450 million yen and wore a Chunichi uniform. Lee Jong-beom signed a contract with a down payment of 50 million yen and an annual salary of 80 million yen. He was no small money. Because of the IMF crisis, it was close to 2,000 won per 100 yen.
In 1998, the first year Lee Jong-beom entered Japan, his son Jung-hu was born at a hospital in Nagoya. It was the birth of a batting genius who succeeded generations. When his father returned to KIA, he entered Seoseok Elementary School in Gwangju and started playing baseball. When he was in the second year of Mudeung Middle School, when his father retired and left KIA, he moved to Seoul and transferred to Whimoon Middle School, and he was nominated for the 1st round of the 2017 Heroes.
From his first year, he showed a stroke of genius, won the rookie of the year, and recorded a batting average of 300 for five consecutive years. From the 2021 season, he became the batting champion for the second consecutive year, and he became an overkill hitter. His annual salary next year is expected to easily exceed 1 billion won. In particular, it seems that after finishing the 2023 season, he will receive a treatment that overwhelms his father and advance to the major leagues.
He is the most watched KBO league hitter in the major leagues. He unleashes flawless hitting that snipers all types of pitches, including fastballs. With his height of 185 cm, his long hitting power is also increasing as his size increases. His running base play and defense are also competitive. He’s recently been evaluated as being similar to Orix Masataka Yoshida, 29, who signed with the Boston Red Sox for five years and $90 million. 토토사이트
It is certain that Lee Jung-hoo will be treated better than Kim Ha-seong. Kim Ha-seong signed a four-year, up to $39 million contract. Lee Jeong-hoo is expected to receive more than 50 million dollars in 4 years even if the level of Korean baseball is applied conservatively compared to Japanese baseball. That’s a lot of money, over $10 million a year.
My father went to the Japanese league at the age of 28, and Lee Jung-hoo stepped on the major league stage at the age of 26. If he gets FA qualification, he can expect another jackpot depending on his performance. The current blow is not the apex. You can grow further in the major leagues. If the long hitting power is added, great treatment awaits. It is predicting the birth of a baseball conglomerate that surpasses his father’s income.