Kiwoom infielder Kim Hye-sung (26) of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has succeeded in advancing to the Major League.메이저놀이터

The Major League website reported on the 4th (Korea time) that "the Dodgers and Kim Hye-sung agreed to a three-year, $12.5 million contract." The contract also included a two-year team option that the club can exercise three years later. This means that if Kim Hye-sung does well, the contract period can be extended to up to five years.

One regrettable point is that Kim's contract does not include a minor "rejection right" to avoid being demoted to a minor league. Therefore, Kim has to compete indefinitely to be on the 26-man roster for the opening game from the Major League Spring Camp, which starts next month.

Kim Hye-sung's entry into the Major League is drawing attention from Dongsan High School in Incheon, his hometown. In addition to Kim, Ryu Hyun-jin (38. Hanwha) and Choi Ji-man (34) played in the Major League in the past.

Ryu Hyun-jin, like Kim Hye-sung in 2013, entered the Major League through the posting system. At that time, Ryu Hyun-jin entered the U.S. with good treatment, including a minor veto in the contract terms.

After playing as an ace for the Dodgers, he became a free agent in 2020 and moved to Toronto. Having played in the big leagues for exactly 10 seasons until 2023, Ryu returned to Korea last year with 78 wins, 48 losses and an ERA of 3.27.

Another Dongsan High School fielder Choi Ji-man also played well in the Major League. Choi Ji-man, who moved to the U.S. by signing a contract with Seattle at the same time as he graduated from high school in 2011, endured a long minor life and entered the Major League in 2016 as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.

In the early days of the big league, he couldn't get a seat and moved around the Angels, New York Yankees, and Milwaukee, but he faced a turning point when he was traded to Tampa Bay in the summer of 2018.

Choi Ji-man, who has taken the position of Tampa Bay's main first baseman since 2019, has been a great help in both offense and defense so that his team can advance to the postseason for four consecutive years until 2022. In 2020, he advanced to the World Series and became the first Korean fielder to play in the World Series and record a hit.

As of last year, Choi played in a total of 525 games in the Major League, posting a batting average of 0.234 with 67 homers and 238 RBIs. His OPS, which combines on-base plus slugging percentage, is not bad at 0.764.

Following Ryu Hyun-jin and Choi Ji-man, Kim Hye-sung also made it to the Major League, and Incheon Dongsan High School, their hometown, ranked second in the school that produced the most Korean major leaguers. Gwangju Jeil High School produced four students including Kim Byung-hyun, Seo Jae-eung, Choi Hee-seop and Kang Jung-ho. People call it Gwangju Jeil High School.

After successfully advancing to the Major League, Kim reportedly will soon move to the U.S., sign an official contract with Medical Check, and begin preparing for spring camp immediately. Attention is focusing on whether Kim will be able to perform better than her seniors Ryu Hyun-jin and Choi Ji-man.