UPDATE (Nov. 9, 9:35 a.m. PT): The Minnesota Twins announced they submitted the winning bid for Korean first baseman Byung-ho Park.
On Friday, Korea’s Nexen Heroes accepted a bid from a Major League Baseball team for the rights to negotiate with star first baseman Byung-ho Park. The bid has been reported at a $12.85 million value, though the identity of the winning team isn’t yet known.
In the days since, various media reports eliminated the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers, among others, as the team that posted the winning bid.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, a team with vast resources, a crafty front office and a history with international free agents, were conspicuously absent from reports.
However, that changed on Sunday as Jon Heyman of CBS Sports added the Dodgers to the growing list of teams who did not win the rights to negotiate with Park:
Regarding Byung-ho Park, I hear it's also not mets, yanks, Dodgers, angels, padres or Indians.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) November 8, 2015
Nexen will only receive the $12.85 million posting fee should Park agree to a contract with his new team. The signing team would need to pay the fee on top of the salary committed to Park in any deal.
The $12.85 million bid falls shy of the $25 million the Dodgers paid to negotiate with Hyun-Jin Ryu in November of 2012. Los Angeles then signed Ryu to a six-year, $36 million contract that includes an opt out after the 2017 season should Ryu throw 750 innings from 2013-17.
Park’s bid does surpass the estimated $5 million that the Pittsburgh Pirates paid Nexen last year to negotiate with Jung Ho Kang. The infielder then signed a four-year, $11 million contract with Pittsburgh.
