Yankees close to $1.1M deal with Korean SS Hyo-Jun Park

[Les Krupel]

MAY

23

Report: Yankees close to $1.1M deal with Korean SS Hyo-Jun Park

By Michael Axisa

According to a Naver report

 (translated article) passed along by Sung-Min Kim and Dan at MyKBO, the Yankees are close to signing 17-year-old Korean shortstop Hyo-Jun Park to a deal worth $1.1M. The bonus will count against the team’s international spending cap, so the deal might not become official until the new signing period opens on July 2nd, when the Yankees are expected to go bonkers.

Park spent some time working out in California earlier this year. He is a slick fielder and a left-handed hitter who is said to be a contact-oriented line drive guy without much power. That said, here’s a video of him hitting a grand slam. Here’s another video of him fielding, hitting, and running. It appears the signing will help address the team’s lack of a quality bat flip tool in the minors. Including Park, the Yankees reportedly have their eyes on at leasteight international players

 for seven-figure bonuses this summer.