Baltimore Orioles Will Reportedly Have Korean Prospect Contract Voided

Not long ago, the Baltimore Orioles signed 17-year-old Korean pitcher Seong-Min Kim to a minor league contract. In doing so, however, they broke protocol, and now MLB will reportedly void the deal.

Feb 15, 2012 - Zach Britton is a young pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles. He has a lot of promise. He's also currently experiencing some shoulder problems. It's the middle of February. But wait, things get better! Britton isn't the only thing the Orioles have to worry about these days.

At the end of January, the Orioles signed 17-year-old Korean lefty Seong-Min Kim to a minor-league contract. The Korean Baseball Organization protested, saying the Orioles broke protocol. The Orioles were supposed to have MLB notify the KBO of what was going on. The Orioles didn't have MLB notify the KBO of what was going on.

Shortly thereafter, Kim was suspended. Then the Korean Baseball Association banned Orioles scouts from sanctioned events in the country. Orioles GM Dan Duquette issued an apology, but now we have further developments. Roch Kubatko:

The Korean Baseball Organization's protest over the Orioles' signing of Seong-Min Kim will lead to Major League Baseball voiding the contract of the 17-year-old Korean pitcher, according to industry sources.

I'm still trying to receive confirmation from the Orioles.

As Kubatko says, this isn't yet official, but things seem to be leaning this way. If the Orioles did indeed break protocol in signing Kim, then Kim shouldn't be theirs. If, for example, you shoplift, and you're caught shoplifting, you can't keep the stuff you shoplifted. Unless it was snacks and you ate them. Then nobody will try to get them back.

If Kim's contract is indeed voided, then the Orioles will have to start negotiations all over again if they want to sign him for real. At a later date. When Kim's a free agent. Available to anybody. So if Kim's contract is voided, it's far from guaranteed that he'd end up with the Orioles down the road.

Kubatko says the Orioles might also face additional punishment. That is, in addition to having Kim's contract voided. You don't know how hard I'm trying to not make the easy jokes here. My forehead is sweating. It's gross. If I'm going to make a joke here, it has to be a more difficult joke. Like, if Major League Baseball were to punish the Baltimore Orioles, would anyone notice? Wait, no, that's one of the easy jokes. Hold on.

Do you like this post?

Comments

Why does everybody keep referring to this as "breaking protocol"?

Did the Orioles actually break any rules? Was Kim under contract with a Korean team or are they just pissed that they signed a young Korean player when he would have played for the KBO? Why isn’t MLB planning to void the contract of every 17-year old signed out of the Dominican Republic or Cuba or anywhere else in the Caribbean? This whole thing seems weird.

by rugman11 on Feb 15, 2012 10:50 PM EST reply actions

I don't know the detail

but it seems that Korea has a rule to prevent pro clubs to negotiate before they graduate highschool. Thus, it would be unfair for a mlb team to negotiate even before the Korean teams can actually negotiate. I believe the same rule applies to US and Canada. MLB teams cannot negotiate players in highschool.

by Ssamze on Feb 16, 2012 12:42 AM EST up reply actions

There's a good explanation here:

http://camdendepot.blogspot.com/2012/02/interview-with-yoo-jee-ho-about-orioles.html

by SeanP on Feb 16, 2012 1:56 AM EST up reply actions

Poor comparison

Breaking protocol and breaking the law are two different things.

Overall, though, the Orioles should be happy as pretty much all scouts say they overpaid for the kid. MLB just saved them from overpaying for Kim, who is the real victim here.

by LordD99 on Feb 16, 2012 2:00 AM EST reply actions