The North American sports media ‘The Athletic’ released the results of a survey of its columnists on the 18th (Korean time). Several players were named in the ‘worst free agent this offseason’ survey, which could attract fans’ attention, and Masataka Yoshida (30, Boston) received the most votes.
Yoshida was one of the best hitters in Nippon Professional Baseball. He has a fine hitting, and despite his small size, he has the power to hit. The defense and running base are also evaluated as not falling far behind in the major leagues.
Boston signed a five-year contract with Yoshida for a total of 90 million dollars (approximately 117 billion won). If the posting amount to be given to Orix, the original team, is added, Boston’s actual expenditure jumps to 105.4 million dollars (approximately 137 billion won) over five years. It is a new record for the highest amount among fielders who went from the Asian league to the major leagues.
Boston needed an offensive outfielder, and Yoshida fits that requirement. Even the local media does not deny this. However, what has been controversial since the signing was whether Yoshida was a player worthy of this amount. John Heyman, columnist for the New York Post and major league source, added fuel to the controversy by reporting that “other teams’ offers were much lower than this.” 먹튀검증
‘The Athletic’ columnists seem to have similar thoughts. Ten reporters were selected as the worst free agents. It’s not that I’m disparaging Yoshida’s skills per se, but that it’s a bad contract from a business point of view. A reporter who responded to the survey asked, “105 million dollars including the amount of posting? Is this true?” Another reporter admitted he was not in favor of the deal, saying it was an over-investment given Boston’s current tone.
Conversely, computer simulations predict that Yoshida’s batting performance in Japan will be maintained to some extent and will be revealed in the major leagues. Representative statistical simulations such as ‘ZiPS’ and ‘Steamer’ predict that Yoshida will record a batting average slightly lower than 30% this year. If you hit 30%, the batting performance can be maintained to some extent, and if so, Boston’s investment will not fail. Yoshida’s performance this year is expected to continue until the end of the season.
The second worst free agent was Jacob deGrom (35), the best pitcher at the moment, who signed a five-year, $185 million contract with Texas. DeGrom is also a player with no doubts about his mettle, but he also has doubts about whether the deal was right business-wise. Nine journalists voted deGrom the worst free agent contract.
DeGrom has been plagued by injuries for the past three years, so local media expected a three-year contract that would significantly increase his average annual salary. However, even in this keynote, Texas bet five years and put deGrom in the uniform. The Texas investment could be disastrous if deGrom can’t get out of the swamp of injury.
Yoshida and deGrom were followed by Taihuan Walker (Philadelphia), Xander Bogarts (San Diego), and Brandon Nemo (New York Mets). However, there was not a single reporter who chose Carlos Correa, whose contract was canceled twice (San Francisco and New York Mets) due to physical condition problems, and who eventually remained in Minnesota. It is interpreted as the gaze that the two clubs were overly sensitive to Correa’s physical condition.
