Kim Jaehwan Fails to Enter Major League: "Thankful to Doosan for the Opportunity... Will Devote Myself to Winning the Championship"

Premier12 Super Round game between Mexico and Korea, Kim Jae-hwan (32, Doosan) is batting
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Sung-yeol] Doosan Bears outfielder Kim Jae-hwan (32) has failed to enter Major League Baseball (MLB).

Kim Jae-hwan's agent, 'Spotizen,' announced that by 7 a.m. on the 6th (Korean time), the MLB posting deadline, "Negotiations were held with four MLB teams, but opinions on the contract details could not be narrowed down," and that Kim Jae-hwan was unable to find a team.

Kim Jae-hwan, who suddenly expressed his intention to enter MLB last November, ultimately failed to join the league due to lack of promotion and his poor performance last season. No MLB team met the multi-year contract conditions he requested, including last season's salary (730 million won).

Since this was a posting rather than free agency (FA), Kim Jae-hwan is currently still a Doosan player.

Currently, Kim Jae-hwan has been training individually in the United States for about two weeks and is expected to complete the remaining two weeks of training and return to Korea around mid-January.

Kim Jae-hwan stated, "I would like to once again express my deep gratitude to the Doosan Bears for allowing me the valuable opportunity to challenge MLB, and I will dedicate myself to the Doosan Bears' unified championship in the 2020 season."

Meanwhile, Kim Jae-hwan's posting failure marks the fourth case among domestic players, following pitcher Jin Pil-jung (then Doosan) in 2002, outfielder Son Ah-seop (Lotte), and infielder Hwang Jae-gyun (Lotte) in 2015.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.