Bae Ji-hwan moved the team.
The Pittsburgh Pirates announced on the 7th (Korea Standard Time) that Bae Ji-hwan had transferred to the New York Mets through a waivers claim.
Earlier, local media such as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Bae Ji-hwan had been waived.
사진 확대 Bae Ji-hwan has moved to the Mets. Photo = AP= Courtesy of Yonhap News
If no team had expressed its intention to recruit him, it would have been released as it was or remained on the team as a minor league player, but a team willing to recruit him appeared.
Bae Ji-hwan has played in 163 games for Pittsburgh over the past four years, hitting a batting average of 0.223 on-base percentage of 0.294 slugging percentage of 0.293.
He steadily took the opportunity by playing 111 games in the 2023 season, batting .231 with a .296 on-base hit rate of .311 with two home runs, 32 RBIs and 24 steals, but he was virtually excluded from the team’s power plan, playing only 42 games over the next two years.
He played in 67 games in Triple-A last season and showed compliance productivity with a batting average of 0.292 on-base percentage of 0.380, a slugging percentage of 0.424, 18 doubles, 7 triples, and 23 steals. This is the background of the team that expressed its intention to recruit even though it did not get many opportunities in the Major League.
Attention is focusing on how he, who did not get many opportunities in Pittsburgh, will perform on his new team.
사진 확대 Bae Ji-hwan hasn’t had many chances with Pittsburgh in the last two years. Photo = AP= Courtesy of Yonhap News
The Mets currently have four outfielders: Juan Soto, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nemo and Tyrone Taylor. Last season, he signed Cedric Mullins during the season.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh transferred right-handers Darnell and Michael Darrell-Higgs to the Detroit Tigers through waivers. Infielder Reover Peguero was transferred to the minor leagues after passing waivers.
Right-hander Jared Jones, catcher and first baseman Andy Rodriguez, outfielder Ronnie Simon and infielder Enmanuel Valdez returned from the injured list on the 60th.
[San Francisco (USA) = KIM JAE HO, MK Sports Correspondent]