|
Red Sox pitcher Kim Byung-hyun, the ¡°Korean nuclear submarine,¡± is on the verge of renewing his contract. As expected, he¡¯ll sign a two-year deal worth US$10 million. Boston media reported that the Red Sox started salary negations with their major unsigned players on Tuesday, and Jeff Moorad, Kim¡¯s agent, entered into talks on that day. His Korean agents also said that he will announce a deal sometime around Saturday.
For Kim, who got US$3.25 million last year, getting US$5 million a year carries with it great financial and symbolic meaning, because it would verify his status as a top Major League pitcher following Texas Rangers starter Park Chan-ho (who makes US$13 million a year on average). This is especially true when one considers how the player salary market has frozen: in the case of the Red Sox, only three pitchers -- Pedro Martinez (US$15.5 million a year), Curt Shilling (US$10 million a year) and Keith Foulke (US$6 million a year) -- make over US$5 million. On Tuesday, six-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens reversed his intention to retire and signed a one-year deal with the Houston Astros worth US$5 million.
Kim also earns the right to become a free agent when his contract is up after two years. If his performance on the mound is satisfactory, he can set his eyes on a big money, multi-year contract like the one signed by Park. He stands a strong chance of joining Martinez, Shilling, Derek Lowe, and Tim Wakefield on the Red Sox¡¯s starting rotation. In a fan poll taken over at the Internet Web site of cable sports news channel ESPN, Boston¡¯s starting staff, including Kim, was ranked as the best in the Major Leagues alongside Oakland¡¯s. Kim, who is currently visiting Japan, plans to return to the United States soon to begin conditioning.
(Seong Jeon-hyeok jhsung@chosun.com )
|
