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KBO says teams can’t post multiple players simultaneously

October 20, 2015
Pittsburgh Pirates' Kang Jung-ho, of South Korea, watches his three-run double off Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Jason Motte in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, April 21, 2015. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Kang Jung-ho, of South Korea, watches his three-run double off Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Jason Motte in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, April 21, 2015. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — Responding to a team’s query on the rule book, the top South Korean baseball league said Tuesday clubs won’t be allowed to put more than one player up for posting at a time in offseasons.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) did say, however, that a team may post a second player up for a silent auction among Major League Baseball (MLB) clubs if the first player it posts fails to reach a big league deal.

The KBO made the clarification after the Lotte Giants demanded an explanation on the league rules, after two of their players, outfielder Son Ah-seop and infielder Hwang Jae-gyun, said they’d asked the club to post them this winter.

The league rule book states that a KBO club may send only one player to a foreign club per year. However, it doesn’t specifically state how many players a team may post at a time in the same offseason.

A KBO player becomes eligible for posting — between Nov. 1 and March 1 the following year — after completing seven seasons or their equivalent. Once a player is posted, MLB teams can submit bids in a silent auction for the right to negotiate with him. If the player’s original KBO club decided to accept the highest bid, then that MLB club will have 30 days to work out a deal with the player.

If the player signs with that big league team, then his KBO club will keep the posting fee. If the player and the MLB team fail to come to an agreement, the player will be taken off the market and won’t be eligible for posting until the following year.

With both Son and Hwang hoping to test the market, the Giants wondered if they could post both players simultaneously.

The KBO determined that the Giants may post one of the players first. If that player fails to come to an agreement with the highest bidder, then the Giants may then post the second player.

The Giants have said they will try to persuade both players to stay put.

Son, an All-Star right fielder at 27, batted. 317 with 13 home runs, 54 RBIs and 11 steals. He’s a career .323 hitter and has hit at least .300 in each of his past six seasons.

Hwang, 28, set career-highs with 26 home runs, 97 RBIs, 95 runs scored and 41 doubles this season, while batting .290.

Aside from these two, Nexen Heroes’ slugger Park Byung-ho is expected to be posted this year. He has led the KBO in home runs and RBIs in the past four seasons, and he had 53 home runs and 146 RBIs — a single-season record — in 2015.

Two South Korean players have reached the majors via posting. In 2012, left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin signed a six-year, US$36 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which bid $25.7 million for him.

In January this year, infielder Kang Jung-ho inked a four-year, $16 million deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, after the Bucs put in a bid of $5 million.