Korean baseball star Lee Jung-hoo, fresh off signing a lucrative deal with the San Francisco Giants, will return home from his new major league city on Tuesday, Lee’s agency said .Leeco Sports Agency announced Monday that Lee is scheduled to land at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, Tuesday afternoon, and have a media scrum upon his arrival. The 25-year-old has spent the past several days in the Bay Area, going through his physical and signing the six-year, $113 million contract with the Giants .Lee spent the past seven seasons playing for the Kiwoom Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). He was posted for interested Major League Baseball (MLB) clubs earlier this month and had until 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Jan. 3, 2024, toland his deal, as per the KBO-MLB agreement on posting. The Giants didn’t waste much time. Lee’s 30-day negotiating window opened at 8 a.m. ET on Dec. 5, and reports of Lee’s contract with the Giants emerged a week later. Lee passed his physical later in the week and held his introductory press conference at Oracle Park, home of the Giants, on Friday. Lee later attended a home game for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Lee was one of the KBO’s top players during his seven years here. He won the Rookie of the Year award in 2017 and was voted the most valuable player in 2022, after leading the league in batting average, hits, RBIs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage .Lee’s contract is the largest awarded to a Korean player moving from the KBO to MLB via posting. The Giants, after cycling through 11 center fielders in 2023, are counting on Lee to become their everyday center fielder in 2024. At Lee’s introductory presser, Farhan Zaidi, president of baseball operations for the Giants, called Lee “an absolutely perfect fit” for his club, based on Lee’s ability to put the ball in play in particular. Zaidi also said Lee has “a chance to be in San Francisco for a very long time and create a wonderful legacy here .”Lee will make earn $7 million in 2024, $16 million in 2025, $22 million in 2026 and in 2027, and $20.5 million in 2028 and in 2029. He can opt out of the deal after the 2027 season and become a free agent at age 29.Lee will also receive a $5 million signing bonus. He has agreed to make a charitable contribution to the Giants Community Fund, with donations of $60,000 in 슬롯게이밍 2024, $80,000 in 2025, $110,000 in 2026 and in 2027, and $102,500 in 2028 and in 2029