South Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee finalizes $113 million, 6-year deal with Giants

By: The Associated Press Posted: 8:25 PM CST Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — South Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee and the San Francisco Giants finalized a $113 million, six-year contract on Thursday.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — South Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee and the San Francisco Giants finalized a $113 million, six-year contract on Thursday.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — South Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee and the San Francisco Giants finalized a $113 million, six-year contract on Thursday.

Lee has the right to opt out of the deal after four seasons and $72 million to become a free agent.

He gets a $5 million signing bonus and salaries of $7 million next season, $16 million in 2025, $22 million each in 2026 and ‘27 and $20.5 million apiece in 2028 and ’29.

FILE - South Korea's Jung Hoo Lee plays during a baseball game at Yokohama Baseball Stadium during the 2020 Summer Olympics, Aug. 2, 2021, in Yokohama, Japan. Lee, a South Korean MVP and the son of a former MVP, will become a free agent Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, and major league teams can sign him through 5 p.m. EST on Jan. 3. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

Lee is to be introduced at a news conference Friday at Oracle Park.

San Francisco has missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons after winning a franchise-record 107 games and the NL West in 2021.

The 25-year-old Lee was posted by South Korea’s Kiwoom Heroes on Dec. 4, and if he stays for the entire contract, the Giants would owe the Heroes an $18,825,000 posting fee. If he opts out, the posting fee would be reduced to $12,675,000.

San Francisco also would owe an additional fee of 15% for any earned bonuses or escalators.

Lee batted .318 with six homers and 48 RBIs in 86 games this year but broke his left ankle during a game against the Lotte Giants on July 22 and was sidelined the remainder of the season.

Last year, he hit .349 with career bests of 23 home runs and 113 RBIs in 142 games. He was voted rookie of the year in 2017 and MVP in 2022.

Lee also batted .429 with two doubles and five RBIs for South Korea in this year’s World Baseball Classic, where South Korea failed to advance from its first-round group. He hit .241 with three doubles, one homer and three RBIs in the 2021 Olympics, where South Korea lost to the United States in the semifinals and then to the Dominican Republic for the bronze medal.

Lee has a .340 career average with 65 homers and 515 RBIs for the Heroes, who were renamed from Nexen to Kiwoon ahead of the 2019 season. He is a six-time Golden Glove winner.

His father, Jong Beom Lee, was MVP in 1994 and played in Japan for the Central League’s Chunichi Dragons from 1998 to 2001.

As part of the deal, Lee will make charitable contributions to the Giants Community Fund of $60,000 next year, $80,000 in 2025, $110,000 each in 2026 and 2027 and $102,500 apiece in 2028 and 2029.

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