This is sufficient to call it the Major League Baseball Military Academy. As Korean infielder Kim Hye-sung signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, Kiwoom has produced its fifth major leaguer since its foundation in 2008. Following Lee Jung-hoo who joined the San Francisco Giants last year, Kiwoom's Big Leaguer has been announced for two consecutive years.메이저사이트

What should be noted is that starting with Kang Jung-ho (retired) who opened the door to the big league in 2015, Park Byung-ho (current Samsung), Kim Ha-sung (FA status), and Lee Jung-hoo all made inroads into the U.S. stage through posting (closed competitive bidding). Of the nine successful posting cases in the Korean professional baseball league, five, or more than half, are from Kiwoom.

Kiwoom, the only team among the 10 teams that runs the team under the sponsorship of naming without a parent company, is actively opening the door for its players to advance overseas. The baseball community says, "New players also often strengthen their commitment to the overseas stage from an early age by watching the success stories of their seniors." There are also many cases where major players leave early and take the starting position at a relatively low annual leave. In the last season, new faces such as rookie infielder Ko Young-woo and second-year outfielder Park Soo-jong steadily gained opportunities to play.

The transfer fee that the club earns is also enormous due to the successive advancement of its players to the big leagues. The Associated Press predicted that Kim Hye-sung, who signed a three-year contract with Dodgers worth 12.5 million U.S. dollars, will give Kiwoom 2 million dollars in transfer fee. While details of the contract have yet to be officially announced, the transfer fee could go up to 2.5 million dollars if the Sining Bonus is included. If the club implements the two-year option, Kim's transfer fee will likely increase up to 3.85 million dollars. The amount is similar to the annual salary (5.67 billion won) that Kiwoom paid to the top 40 players (excluding foreigners and rookies) last year.

Including the transfer fee of the four players who advanced to the big leagues, Kiwoom is expected to pocket up to 46.05 million U.S. dollars to 2015. However, if Lee Jung-hoo, who signed a six-year, 113 million-dollar contract with San Francisco, exercises his right to opt-out (break the contract by agreement between players and the club) four years later, his transfer fee could change significantly.