SEOUL, South Korean baseball player Park Hoy-jun has signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics, getting a lifeline to extend his career in the United States with only a cup of coffee in Major League Baseball (MLB) so far.
According to the transactions page on the Athletics' website Tuesday, Park signed his minor league deal on Nov. 20. He was promptly assigned to Oakland's Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators.
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.
Park, 27, had elected free agency earlier this month after spending the entire 2023 season with the Gwinnett Stripers, the Triple-A club of the Atlanta Braves. Park batted .262/.385/.379 with six home runs, 42 RBIs and 16 steals in 101 games, while appearing at second base, third base and right field.
He first signed with the New York Yankees out of a Korean 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 for the Pirates, while spending the rest of the time in the minors.
Park posted a .216/.276/.373 line with two home runs and six RBIs in those 23 games last year. The versatile player played 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 didn't earn a callup to the majors in 2023 and will now try to reach the big leagues in 2024 with the Athletics.
Source: Yonhap News Agency