Kim, Park and Korean stars

Just as Buck Showalter waited too long Tueday night to bring Zach Britton into the AL wild card game, I waited too long to comment on the odd year of Hyun Soo Kim.

Kim and the Orioles are done now, having lost the wild card game to the Toronto Blue Jays

Dedicated readers may recall that I made my biennial trip to spring training this year, and it came in early March. One of the games I saw at Hammond Stadium was against the Baltinore Orioles, and it brought out a TON of Korean media, because it involved two high-profile Koreans who had come over to the States: Byung Ho Park of the Twins and Kim of the O's.

Neither distinguished himself in that contest. Kim, to be blunt, didn't distinguish himself at all in March, and Showalter (and the Oriole front office) entered the season trying to get the outfielder to waive his contractual clause prohibiting his demotion.

Kim refused. And he saw little playing time early in the season. But by the end of May he was in the lineup pretty consistently, and he wound up slashing .302/.382/.420, albeit in less than 350 plate appearances. Showalter allowed Kim only 22 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers, and he never got a hit against a southpaw.

It was an odd thing this spring, however. The Twins entered the regular season feeling comfortable with Park as the DH, and the Orioles entered it believing Kim couldn't play in the majors. Park wound up in the minors (and having his season end early for hand surgery), and Kim was a significant help to a playoff team.

Kim and Park are significantly different kinds of players; Park is a first baseman and power guy, Kim an on-base guy. Then there's Jung Ho Kang, the Pittsburgh infielder, roughly the same age as Park and Kim, whose season didn't get started until May because of the broken leg he sustained late in the 2015 season and who missed a good bit of time in August with another injury. Kang was a more productive hitter, albeit in less playing time, in 2016; he also was restricted to third base in the field.

The Twins have a significant number of players limited to first base and designated hitter: Joe Mauer, Park, Kennys Vargas, maybe Miguel Sano. I'm sure there are plenty of fans willing to discard Park this winter. I don't share that notion. I suspect Park's hand/wrist issues had more to do with his struggles than we know, and there's nothing so far in the careers of Kim and Kang that suggest that Korean stars are automatically overmatched in the American majors.

Two players from Korea

Hyun Soo Kim didn't get an extra-base hit in spring
training for the Orioles, and now his no-demotion contract
has put the O's in a dilemma.

Byung Ho Park, who figures to be the Twins' designated hitter, wasn't the only transferred Korean star testing himself in American baseball this spring on the Florida Gulf Coast. The Baltimore Orioles have outfielder Hyun Soo Kim, and he is at the center of an intriguing drama.

Paul Molitor, the Twins manager, has said he has seen little indication in spring training that Park is overmatched against MLB pitching, which is a legitimate concern for a KBO transfer. The Korean Baseball Organization, the top league in South Korea, is not a particularly rigorous level of pro ball, and big hitting numbers are commonplace.

Kim, on the other hand, struggled in exhibition play for the Orioles. He was hitless in his first 23 at-bats and slashed .182/.229/.182 in 44 plate appearances. He hasn't appeared in a game in a week, and the Orioles want to send him to the minors.

The problem is: They are contractually forbidden to do so. Kim's two-year, $7 million deal guarantees him a spot on the 25-man roster. Reports this week had the Orioles asking the 28-year-old outfielder to waive that clause, and Kim declining to accommodate them. The O's face a noon Sunday deadline to set their roster for their Monday opener against the Twins, and it appears they will either have to carry a player the manager thinks he can't use or eat the entire contract and posting fee and release Kim. Neither choice is welcome.

It's worth noting that Pittsburgh stuck with Jung Ho Kang last spring when the infielder hit .200/.280/.444 last spring and then hit .182/.208/.436 through April 28. The rest of the season he hit .293/.363/.474 and took on a regular role on the left side of the infield before suffering a leg fracture. Kang's experience had the Twins anticipating early struggles for Park in his transition to American ball. I don't know what the Orioles expected from Kim in March, but no power whatsoever probably wasn't it. Kang at least showed some pop in his transition period.

Park slashed .273/.293/491 in his first 55 exhibition at-bats. I've seen conflicting reports on his contract status, but considering that Kim and Kang had no-demotion clauses, I would expect that Park's does as well. It hasn't been a issue.