Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mercury]

Kim was traded to Colorado, I don't know if you remember him giving the finger to fans when they booed him, well

1. He missed the World Series.
2. Fans in Boston do not forget.
3. Coaches did not know how to deal with this guy.
4. His face is always across the sports journals as "local boy does good".
5. It takes more than a crafty pitch to make it in baseball. It also takes charactor.
Boston Offload Kim to Colorado



By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
The Boston Red Sox announced on Wednesday that they have traded South Korean sidearmer Kim Byung-hyun to the Colorado Rockies, two days after rumors surfaced that he would go to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Kim was sent to the Rockies in a trade for left-handed pitcher Chris Narveson and catcher Charles Johnson, who was immediately designated for assignment and released.

Kim was supposed to get $6 million this year from the World Series champions, while Johnson is owed $9 million by the Rockies. The Rockies have already paid most of the difference to the Red Sox, according to the club.

Boston general manager Theo Epstein told MLB.com that his decision to sign Kim was a failure, saying ``this is a disappointing end to this whole saga.����

``The two-year contract, as opposed to a one-year deal through arbitration, was certainly a mistake and I take responsibility for that,���� Epstein said about Kim��s two years in Boston. ``It's just a mystery what happened to this guy.����

Kim said that he was surprised to hear the news as he thought he was going to be back with the Diamondbacks. ``Two days ago, my agent said I would go to Arizona, so I was looking for a place to stay there,���� Kim was quoted as saying by Sports Seoul. ``And this morning I was noticed that my final destination is Colorado. I was a bit confused, but it is natural for a professional player to do his best wherever he goes.����

Known for his unique pitching style, the 26-year-old had his best year with the Diamondbacks in 2002, with 36 saves and a 2.04 ERA, helping the team win the World Series. But he was traded to Boston in 2003, where he went 8-5 with a 3.18 ERA and 16 saves in his first season.

Last year Kim was expected to take the fifth spot in the starting rotation, but spent the season split between the Sox and triple-A Pawtucket. He finished 2-1 with a 6.23 ERA for Boston in only seven appearances, and was excluded from the postseason roster as the rest of the team broke the 86-year old Curse of the Bambino.

Rockies general manger Dan O��Dowd said he expects Kim to play something like he did in 2002 and that the club will help him find his old self.

``He's someone we want to take a flier on,�� he said. ``You never get a guy like this when he's going good. But he's not that far removed from being an All-Star and a dominant young closer.����

The Rockies�� bullpen has been hurting this spring, with Taiwanese Tsao Chin-hui injured and lefthander Brian Fuentes not impressing. But Kim was not positive about the outlook for the season, saying he may not able to help the team in the closing spot.

``How can a pitcher who can��t top 90 miles per hour take the closer��s role?���� he said. ``The first thing I have to do is to improve my pitches. Then I will wait for orders from the coaches.����

In the Red Sox pre-season training camp this spring, Kim had one save with a 4.69 ERA in six relief appearances. He is 31-28 with 86 saves and a 3.37 ERA in 299 games (16 starts) in his career.

[FUBAR]

He got moved because he was making $6 million this season and wasn't going to make the roster. His fastball is a few miles per hour slower and seems to float to the hitters. Flipping off the fans of Boston didn't help, but that wasn't why he was moved. If the guy had came back throwing 92 MPH, he would still be on the team.

Also read that he ostricized himself from the team by refusing to communicate with the catchers.

[mercury]

Epsteins thinking..................

In trying to solve this mystery, I've always seen things in the light most favorable to BK," said Epstein. "We went out of our way, we sent him to Korea to try to resolve these issues. We've been very empathetic, trying to see things through his eyes, given the cultural differences, given his age, given his experience coming over to the states at age 19. In the end, none of it worked to get him back to the pitcher he used to be.

"I don't regret trying. I think when you have a pitcher as talented as he is, you have to try and get the most out of him and we tried and tried and tried and in the end, it wasn't going to happen here in Boston."



My prediction, everyone in Korea will now buy COLORADO baseball caps! No joke, when Park went to Texas their was a surge of Texas caps the next day!

[Universalis]

And magically... Koreans across the world will stop being Boston fans and become Colorado fans.

Brian

[mercury]

Ha ha, you got that right! And when you ask them 'what is your favorite baseball team' they will all say 'Lockies' and then........"you know Byung Kim?"

[T-dot]

My draft keeps getting worse and worse.

[Homer]

Hey Mercury,

Koreans here not being from an American city or heck even living in America, why should they feel more attachement to one team or another?

There are not that many Korean players in the Majors so they root for their guys. No problem with that.

The Japanese are the same, they follow their guys.

Heck, a lot of Canadian fans root for the Dodgers because of Gagne. If he eas moved to say Boston, I am sure a lot of fans would follow suit.

As for Kim, he got traded because he lost his stuff and was not going to be on the roster. At 6 million that is too expensive for a non-roster player.

Flicking the bird did not help his case but, as another said, if he was still tossing fire, he would be in Boston.

[FUBAR]

With the thin air at Coors Park (or whatever its calling itself these days), Kim is going to get lit up so badly in Colorado.

Too bad for you BoSox fans over here. No more MLB games for you.

Go Rockies!!!

[chiaa]

[Konundrum]

[redbird]

[Konundrum]

Funny...in "The Globe" today, Theo Epstein (Sox GM) was ripping on Kim a bit calling his toughness into question. He said that despite the injury, BK is basically putting no effort into getting better. He also commented that they had sent him back to Korea to see Korean traditional doctors to try to help him get his head straight..and all he came back with was a report that his "Chi" was out of whack.

[FUBAR]

[animalbirdfish]

Read a while ago that the Boston trainers were really frustrated at his overtraining - especially when he was trying to rehab an injury. I had to laugh, having seen the "more is better" mentality in Korea. Reminding me of the hours of studying for Korean students and the ajoshi/ajummas who do the same thing everyday for two hours a day in the gym.

You guys reckon Korean baseball will ever catch up with Japanese baseball in terms of the quality it exports? Korea can't be that far behind. the Matsuis, Suzuki, and a couple pitchers are the only ones who've really "made it" in MLB, as I recall.

[sparkx]

Kim is a suck ass little puhssie and I truly hope he gets his tiats ripped at Coors field.