Kim Kwang-Hyun was an extremely successful pitcher in the Korean Baseball Organization from 2007-2019 for the SK Wyverns. He garnered an MVP award, and the Wyverns took home 4 KBO championships. After that, he signed a two year deal with the St Louis Cardinals. In those two seasons, one of course truncated by COVID-19, he appeared in 35 games, 28 of which were starts, went 10-7 with 2 saves, a 2.97 ERA (134 ERA+). Rather than wait out the MLB lockout as a free agent, the 33-year-old signed a 4-year deal to re-join the SSG Landers (as the SK Wyverns are now known…pity, I like the dragon imagery of Wyverns). The monetary value of the deal is 15.1 billion won ($12.3M); it’s the largest player contract ever for the KBO. “I didn’t have to think long and hard about signing,” he said. Between the MLB lockout and being offered a record deal in his home country, I bet not.
Fan Interference 