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Baltimore Orioles: Is South Korea’s Son the Answer?

By Kyle Andrews

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Jul 2, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis (21), left fielder David Lough (9) and center fielder Adam Jones (10) celebrate in the outfield after defeating the Texas Rangers 6-4 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Do you want to become a Baltimore Orioles outfielder? Are you fast, can you get on base, or play with the defensive intensity that Buck Showalter loves? Then may you have what it takes to wear the orange and black.

The Orioles look to sign a couple outfielders this offseason. One that has particularly intrigued many fans is the South Korean outfielder Ah-Seop Son.

Son, 27, is listed at 5’9 and 187 lbs. Sounds like a pretty normal outfielder right? However, Son is no normal outfielder, at least in the KBO.

Son batted .324/.412/.476 with 12 home runs and 11 stolen bases in 476 plate appearances this season. He also walked at a 13 percent rate and only struck out in 19.5 percent of his plate appearances. Son has batted .306 or better for the past six seasons in KBO. He has also posted a combined batting stat line of .330/.405/.471 throughout his career.

According to Drew Silva of NBC Sports, Son can be acquired for a very affordable price:

"“Something in the $5-6 million range sounds right for this particular blind bidding, but we’ve already seen the monetary effects of Jung Ho Kang‘s immediate major league success. Pittsburgh won the rights to negotiate with Kang for a lowly $5 million bid last winter and then watched him slash .287/.355/.461 with 15 home runs, 58 RBI, and 60 runs scored in 126 games.”"

In a tweet from Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi, Son would be posted this week:

The Sun‘s Eduardo Encina writes:

"“[D]on’t be surprised if the Orioles place a bid on Son this week, as they did for Park. The Minnesota Twins won the bidding for Park with a $12.85 million blind bid. The 29-year-old Park is a power-hitting first baseman coming off back-to-back 50-homer seasons with the Nexen Heroes. But Son would seem to fit the Orioles better.Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette has tapped international markets often, especially Asia. His signing of Taiwan-born left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, who signed with the Orioles after pitching in Japan, might have been his best signing with the club outside of Nelson Cruz‘s one-year deal in 2014. Chen gave the Orioles four solid seasons as a below-market-value player before becoming a free agent this offseason.”"

Furthermore, on Monday, it was announced that Son was ‘posted’ by the Lotte Giants of the KBO. According to the Yonhap News Agency, interested MLB organizations will have four days to submit bids for the 27-year-old Son. He is expected to draw a good deal of interest from multiple major league clubs.

This is a highlight reel of Son’s play posted by Beverly Hills Sports Council:

According to David Brown of CBS Sports, Son should fit in nicely with what the Orioles want, especially if they bring back slugging first baseman Chris Davis: 

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"“Son doesn’t have big power like Park, but looking just at the stats and the video, he appears to have other skills that would fit in nicely with what the Orioles need (especially if they’re also able to bring back Chris Davis in free agency). Taking that into consideration, along with the Orioles relatively good sense and luck in the international market, and Son seems like he would be a good addition. Left fielders for the Orioles combined to hit .210 with a .640 on-base plus slugging in 2015. Their right-fielders weren’t bad collectively, but they wouldn’t seem to have a better option on the roster right now (aside from Davis) than Son.”"

Look for the Orioles to be a player for Son’s services. If they do win the bid to sign him, they will have 30 days to negotiate a contract. The Orioles will find out on Friday if they have won the bidding process to sign Son.

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