Major League interest in Lee Jung-hoo (25, Kiwoom) is exploding ahead of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).

MLB.com, the official website of the major leagues, said on the 10th (Korean time), “In this Korean WBC lineup, 2022 KBO League MVP Lee Jung-hoo, who will reach the major leagues next season, and major league infielders Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego) and Tommy토토사이트 Edman (28, St. Louis), and there is also a pitcher (Ahn Woo-jin) who dominated the KBO last year,” he introduced. “Japan may be the most favored team in Group B, but the gap is small. Even if Korea lifts the championship trophy in this tournament, Let’s not be surprised,” he said, paying attention to his performance.

In particular, when introducing the outfield, I updated the news that Choi Ji-hoon (26, SSG) joined the national team due to the recent failure of Choi Ji-man (32, Pittsburgh) to join the national team, and said, “Prepare to hear Lee Jung-hoo’s name a lot next year.”

The Korean national team’s outfield was made up of Lee Jeong-hoo, Choi Ji-hoon, Kim Hyeon-soo (35, LG), Na Seong-beom (34, KIA), Park Hae-min (33, LG), and Park Gun-woo (33, NC). Among them, interest in Lee Jung-hoo is significant. Even though there were incumbent major leaguers such as Kim Ha-seong and Edman, they were not the main characters.

In an article introducing Korea’s WBC final entry earlier, MLB.com, which picked Lee Jung-hoo as the core of the batting line along with Park Byung-ho (37, KT) and Choi Jeong (36, SSG), said, “He focused all his attention on himself before advancing to the major leagues. You have to focus,” he said.

This time, he went one step further and predicted that he would become the top 2 seller along with Ohtani in the major league free agent market next year. MLB.com said, “Lee Jeong-hoo led the KBO league in batting average (0.349), RBI (113), hits (193), and on-base percentage (0.421) last year, and had a monstrous season, including being selected as the MVP. After this season, the majors Going into the league, he can become a worldwide sensation through the WBC and become the best non-Ohtani free agent next winter.”

As their expectations get closer to reality, Lee Jung-hoo’s ransom will skyrocket. Ohtani, who becomes a free agent at the end of this season, has shown successful two-time performance for two consecutive years, and his ransom is expected to be a whopping $500 million (approximately 634.5 billion won).

If he becomes the next best free agent after Ohtani, Lee Jeong-hoo will not be able to sign a contract of 100 million dollars, if not as much as Ohtani’s 500 million dollars. Scott Boras (71), who is regarded as the devil’s agent for the club and the best broker for the players, was recognized for his value by collaborating with Lee Jung-hoo last month. Also, Masataka Yoshida (30), a Japanese outfielder who is considered to be similar to Lee Jung-hoo in overall terms, signed a 5-year, 90 million dollar (approximately 114.2 billion won) contract with Boston this winter, and a contract of a similar scale is already expected.