Byung-Ho Park, Twins Agree on New Contract: Latest Details, Reaction

Winning the bidding for South Korean star Byung-ho Park was only half the battle for the Minnesota Twins. On Tuesday, the Twins announced they have agree to a four-year contract with Park.

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman initially reported the news. 

The team provided full details on the contract:

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The deal includes $12 million in guaranteed salary, with Park earning $2,75 million in 2016 and 2017 and $3 million in 2018 and 2019. The club option for 2020 is worth $6,5 million with a $500,000 buyout.

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The Twins won negotiating rights to Park last month by posting a bid with the Nexen Heroes for $12.85 million.

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Minnesota had exclusive negotiating rights with Park after posting a $12.85 million bid on Nov. 9, per Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan.    

The 29-year-old played 140 games last year for the Nexen Heroes in the Korean Baseball Organization. According to Baseball-Reference.com, he hit 53 home runs and drove in 146 runs. He batted an impressive .343 to go along with a .436 on-base percentage and .714 slugging percentage.

Park has also drawn attention for his prodigious bat flips, a staple of his game he unfortunately won't be bringing over to MLB, per Andrew Keh of the New York Times:

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Some Korean players are mindful of American baseball etiquette when necessary. Park Byung-ho, 29, a star first baseman for the Nexen Heroes and the Korean player most coveted by American teams, was as recently as last season one of the K.B.O.'s most entertaining bat flippers. But this season, he began gently dropping his bat after home runs.

Brandon Knight, who pitched for Nexen from 2011 to 2014, said he and others advised Park that if he moved to the United States, American players would not appreciate the flips. Park, who refers to Knight as B.F., as in best friend, took the advice to heart.

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Of course, the question surrounding Park is whether his impressive numbers in South Korea will translate to MLB. Rosenthal noted how at least one team attempted to use advanced statistics to make a determination one way or the other:

There isn't a strong track record of hitters coming out of the KBO and succeeding in the States. Neither Shin-Soo Choo nor Hee-Seop Choi spent any time in KBO before joining the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs, respectively.

Jung Ho Kang, on the other hand, was a member of Nexen from 2010-2014 before signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The move was a bit of a gamble by the Pirates, but Kang hit .287 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI.

Not every player to make the jump from the KBO to MLB will perform as well as Kang has, but he proved Korean players can thrive in the U.S.

That likely alleviates some of the doubt about Park, and his signing is a major statement of intent by Minnesota.

For the past few years, the Twins have been satisfied to lose while building a strong farm system centered around Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. Now the two young stars are ready to contribute to the big league team on Opening Day, and Minnesota has the pieces to compete in the American League Central.

If Park can hit the ground running like Kang did, then the Twins will have somebody to help replace the 22 home runs lost by Torii Hunter's retirement.

Twins manager Paul Molitor discussed the right-handed slugger on MLB Network's Hot Stove on Nov. 10:

Twins Daily's Parker Hageman examined some of Park's tendencies at the plate and concluded his power may be somewhat blunted by the dimensions and overall nature of Target Field.

According to Hageman, only 11.3 percent of home runs from right-handed batters were to center field, and another 7.2 percent landed in right field. Meanwhile, 46.1 percent of Park's charted home runs in 2014 were to center, and the figure rose to 56.6 percent in 2015. He also hit 19.2 percent and 16.6 percent, respectively, to the opposite field.

Still, if Park can hit just half as many home runs in 2016 as he did in 2015 in the KBO, then he'll provide a lot of pop to Minnesota's lineup.

Another issue for the Twins is where they'll play him. Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown reported on Nov. 9 one plan would be to have Park and Joe Mauer split time at first base and designated hitter while shifting Sano to right field.

The team traded Aaron Hicks to the New York Yankees, which would seemingly validate that idea. The move opened up a spot in the outfield for Sano, who spent most of his time at designated hitter and third base.

General manager Terry Ryan is taking a bit of a risk by signing Park, but smaller-market teams like the Twins need to make calculated gambles in order to win.