SF, which cannot be pierced daily because of Otani and Yamamoto, is pioneering Korea with 'Lee Jung-hoo Power'... Japan is also paying attention

*This content was translated by AI.

The leaders of the Major League Baseball (MLB) San Francisco Giants visited Korea in large numbers. Japan, the country of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is also paying attention to this.

Japanese media Sponichi Annex introduced San Francisco's visit to Korea on the 8th under the theme of "Japan is a new market aimed at by Dodgers and San Francisco, a rival of the same district."

The San Francisco club visited Korea for two days on the 6th and 7th. CEO Larry Bear, president of baseball operations Buster Posey, general manager Jack Minasian, manager Tony Vitello, and center hitter Willie Adames visited Korea. In addition, Lee Jung-hoo, the team's main center fielder, and Hwang Jae-gyun (retired), who wore a San Francisco uniform in 2017, also joined.

President Posey and General Manager Minasian visited the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) on the 6th to prevent President Hu Jie-yeon. According to KBO, President Posey expressed high interest in Korean baseball in general and shared opinions on the growth process and competitiveness of Korean baseball. President Huh hinted at the possibility of expanding youth and domestic leadership training, and President Posey also responded positively and exchanged opinions on ways to expand various forms of exchange between KBO and San Francisco clubs.

San Francisco officials spent time experiencing Korean culture, and on the 7th, they held a clinic for high school baseball prospects in Korea at LG Champions Park in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do, attended by Posey, Minasian, and Lee Jung-hoo.

Stan Musial, vice president of St. Louis Cardinals, Whitty Herzog, and Hall of Fame inductor Ajie Smith, who had a sisterhood relationship with OB Bears (now Doosan), visited Korea in 1988, but it is rare to visit Korea for such a full-fledged exchange. As such, this event can be seen as San Francisco's interest in Korea.

In the past, San Francisco recruited a few Korean players, but it was not seen in the major leagues except for Hwang Jae-kyun in 2017. However, Lee Jung-hoo was set for a whopping $113 million (about 163.9 billion won) for six years at the end of 2023, and has shown interest in Korea since then. Advertisements by Korean companies are being posted at Oracle Park, their home stadium, and events related to Korea are also being held.

Japan is also paying attention to this. Citing another media outlet The Athletic, Sponichi Annex said, "San Francisco is aiming to expand the Korean market through this visit." The media said, "In Japan, the Dodgers have monopolized the market since Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto joined. The Dodger Stadium is full of advertisements from Japanese companies and is earning huge tourism profits, he said. "It is difficult for San Francisco to expand its power in Japan. So I turned to Korea," he claimed.

Rachel Hate, San Francisco's chief marketing officer, said, "I want you to grow the San Francisco club brand in Korea and know that the club loves Korea. I hope Koreans will be fans of San Francisco as well as Lee Jung-hoo," he said. San Francisco is said to want to include them if the MLB Korea tour goes ahead again.

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*This content was translated by AI.