SEOUL, South Korean minor league baseball player Park Hoy-jun has become a free agent, reaching a crossroads in a career that has included only a cup of coffee in Major League Baseball (MLB).
The Gwinnett Stripers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, announced on their website Wednesday that Park has elected free agency.
The 27-year-old was among 20 players to take that step this week from the Stripers. He can either choose to stay put in the United States for another shot at MLB or come home to play in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
In this Getty Images file photo from June 27, 2022, Park Hoy-jun, then of the Pittsburgh Pirates, signs autographs before a Major League Baseball regular season game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
To sign with a team in the top South Korean league, however, Park must wait two years. Under rules designed to discourage an exodus of young talent, the KBO requires players who’ve signed their first professional contract overseas to sit out for 24 months before inking a deal with a KBO club.
Several others who spent time overseas, including current SSG Landers outfielder and one-time Chicago Cubs prospect Ha Jae-hoon, had to wait two years before finding their landing spot in the KBO.
Park signed with the New York Yankees out of high school in 2014 and made his big league debut with the team in July 2021.
He was dealt to the Pirates later that same month. In 2022, he appeared in 23 big league games across four stints with the Pirates, while spending the rest of the time in the minors.
Park had a .216/.276/.373 line with two home runs and six RBIs in those 23 games last year. The versatile player appeared at second base, third base, shortstop and right field in 2022.
The Pirates traded Park to the Boston Red Sox in November 2022, and the Red Sox shipped him to the Braves in December. Park spent the entire 2023 season in Triple-A and batted .262/.385/.379 with six home runs, 42 RBIs and 16 steals in 101 games.
Source: Yonhap News Agency