Will the Oakland A’s Sign Jung-Ho Kang?

According to Jon Heyman the New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, and San Francisco Giants could all be interested in a power-hitting Korean shortstop by the name of Jung-Ho Kang.

The A’s are in desperate need of infield help even though Billy Beane has been the busiest General Manager this off-season. He’s acquired shortstop Marcus Semien from the Chicago White Sox, second baseman Joe Wendle from the Cleveland Indians, and shortstop Franklin Barreto and third baseman Brett Lawrie from the Toronto Blue Jays. It’s unlikely that Barreto and Wendle will be manning short or second for the A’s on Opening Day, but one day soon these two prospects may anchor a potent A’s infield.

However, it’s extremely unlikely that Semien would not be manning shortstop and Lawrie would not be manning third on Open Day. Semien doesn’t seem like a long-term solution, but he looks a lot better than Nick Punto and Eric Sogard. Semien is a typical A’s pickup. He gets on-base at a decent clip .380 at Triple-A and .300 with Chicago, plus he can play multiple positions. Nick and Eric are good pieces, but not long-term solutions.

That’s where Jung-Ho Kang comes into the picture. A three-time All-Star shortstop in Korea and in the process became one the premier shortstops in South Korea. The 27-year-old may not translate into a shortstop in North America, so will likely be converted to second base.

Kang’s KBO career statistics (courtesy of Global Sporting Integration):

• 2006: .150/.150/.200, 10 G, 3 H, 1 2B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 3 Errors

• 2007: .133/.133/.133, 20 G, 2 H, 0 2B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 0 Error

• 2008: .271/.334/.392, 116 G, 98 H, 18 2B, 8 HR, 47 RBI, 31 BB, 65 K, 3 SB, 13 Errors

• 2009: .286/.349/.508, 133 G, 136 H, 33 2B, 23 HR, 81 RBI, 45 BB, 81 K, 3 SB, 15 Errors

• 2010: .301/.391/.457, 133 G, 135 H, 30 2B, 12 HR, 58 RBI, 61 BB, 87 K, 2 SB, 23 Errors

• 2011: .282/.353/.401, 123 G, 125 H, 22 2B, 9 HR, 63 RBI, 43 BB, 62 K, 4 SB, 13 Errors

• 2012: .314/.413/.560, 124 G, 137 H, 32 2B, 25 HR, 82 RBI, 71 BB, 78 K, 21 SB, 12 Errors

• 2013: .291/.387/.489, 126 G, 131 H, 21 2B, 22 HR, 96 RBI, 68 BB, 109 K, 15 SB, 15 Errors

• 2014: .356/.459/.739, 117 G, 149 H, 36 2B, 40 HR, 117 RBI, 68 BB, 106 K, 3 SB, 9 Errors

• Career: .298/.383/.504, 902 G, 916 H, 193 2B, 139 HR, 545 RBI, 387 BB, 601 K, 51 SB, 103 Errors

Billy Beane has shocked the baseball world, time and time again. He’s made a habit of  trading away his best players to re-tool his team and still make the playoffs. When nobody expected Beane to signed Yoenis Cespedes on February 13th, 2012 and nobody expected Beane to trade him two and half years later…..but he did. Would it be insane to suggest that Billy Beane could pick up another international star and complete yet another re-tool?

With the Toronto, Cleveland, and Chicago trade the A’s has gotten younger and more athletic. Beane has been able to re-allocate funds by trading for a few high ceiling prospects. These addition funds will allow the Oakland A’  to ink Jung-Ho Kang. GM’s have a tendency of saying one thing and doing another. I am banking on it.