"Nail was a promotional ambassador." ML's 88-homer giant, who was hesitant to go to KIA, stamped 'bang' on the phone call of a filial son foreigner
"Nail was a promotional ambassador." ML's 88-homer giant, who was hesitant to go to KIA, stamped 'bang' on the phone call of a filial son foreigner
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When looking at James Nail (31) of the KIA Tigers, the word "having a good son is a foreigner" comes to mind. He changed the mind of Patrick Wisdom (33), a 88-homer slugger in the Major League who hesitated to go to Korea, where Nail's pride in Gwangju is unfamiliar.메이저사이트
KIA officially announced on the 26th, "I signed a contract with Wizdom, a foreign hitter of Utuuta, for a total of $1 million, including a down payment of $200,000 and an annual salary of $800,000.
Wisdom from Murrieta, California, the U.S.A., is a player with outstanding slugging capability who has hit 20 or more home runs for three consecutive seasons (2021-2023) in the Major League. During seven seasons in the Major League, he played in 455 games with a batting average of 0.209 (274 hits from 1311 times at bat), 88 homers, 207 RBIs and 23 steals, and an on-base percentage of 0.459 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 0.750 (on-base plus slugging percentage). It was a career-high year in 2021 when he ranked fourth in the rookie of the year by posting 28 homers, 61 RBIs and an OPS of 0.823 points. According to Kia, he is said to have strong slugging capability, above-average baserunning speed, and good throwing ability.
Rumors of Wisdom going to Korea have been circulating steadily since early this month. However, recruitment was not easy. Wisdom was a promising young player, as he was drafted 52 times in the first round of the Major League Rookie Draft in 2012. As he clearly has slugging capacity, he garnered 183 strikeouts in 2022, and garnered eight home runs this year while struggling with a batting average of around 100%. As such, Wisdom was aiming for a new try in the Major League this winter while playing for Narangheros de Emorsillo in the Mexican League.
"We met Wizdom's agent for the first time at the Major League Winter Meeting (Dec. 10-12). It was there that we expressed our intention to recruit him and conversations were going on quickly," Kia Tigers' general manager Shim Jae-hak told Star News on Wednesday.
However, Wisdom could hardly decide to join Kia. He was not in a hurry, and his entire family felt pressured to move to Asia because they had three young children. "Wizdom was very hesitant. He had never played in a league in any other country other than the Mexican league, and his cumulative annual salary in the U.S. exceeded 5 million U.S. dollars," Shim Jae-hak said. "I also felt tremendous pressure on the three children and my wife to move."
That was when Kia's ace player, Nail, stepped in. Nail helped Kia rank No. 1 in the regular season early this year, as she recorded 12 wins and five losses with a 2.53 ERA and 138 strikeouts in 149 ⅓ innings in 26 regular season games. She also dramatically returned to the Korean Series despite unfavorable factors such as jaw joint fracture at the end of the season, and was the moving ace who led Kia to its 12th win. She showed affection for Kia's club and its fans who waited for her, and eventually confirmed her stay for a total of 1.8 million U.S. dollars on April 27.
Nail expressed her experiences in Gwangju and fans' love to Wizdom this year. "Nail was KIA's promotional ambassador. We asked James to do it because Wizdom had a fear of new league," said Shim Jae-hak. "We wanted him to tell us the culture and atmosphere of our team that he experienced in Korea and where Gwangju is located, and through several phone calls, Wizdom made up his mind to go to KIA."
Once Wisdom made up his mind, the deal was in a hurry. Through data analysis, Kia considered Wisdom highly likely to succeed and completed the contract with full guarantee of 1 million U.S. dollars.
The key was Wisdom's contact ratio. Wisdom's consistently low batting average was pointed out as a weakness, as he had a batting average of 0.253 and 488 strikeouts during 439 Minor League Triple-A games, while earning 176 walks.
Shim Jae-hak, however, had a different opinion. Shim did not have a chance to go to Mexico, but he gained confidence by watching all the video clips of Wisdom's Mexican league games. "These Mexican league pitchers are a little higher than KBO pitchers right now. I recorded an OPS of more than one in such places. In addition, even if I strike out, I am not a batter who touches the ball outside the strike zone. There are a lot of swing and miss on the ball inside the strike zone, but I think the KBO League will reduce the strikeout rate as the ball speed is lower and the angle of the breaking ball is not as sharp as the Major League."
If Wisdom can reduce strikeouts and produce long balls as expected, Kia will have a special clean-up trio named Wisdom, Na Sung-bum and Choi Hyung-woo. Considering the productivity of long balls in the Major League, it is not a dream to expect more than 30 home runs in the KBO League.
Shim did not expect too much but said, "I had a hard time changing foreign players this year. Wizdom also took some time to cross-examine in the U.S. and Korea. As Wizdom is known for his good performance in the U.S., he is not worried. If I have a wish, I hope that the three players chosen this year will not change and continue throughout the year."