Sports Seoul is reporting that Seo Jae-weong is making big waves toward Japan, now chosing between signing with either the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks or the Chiba Lotte Marines of the NPB.
It had been originally been reported that Seo would sign with the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization, but no contract had been finalized.
Seo (30) had a solid year with the Rays Triple-A Durham Bulls, going 9-4 with a 3.69 ERA and a 5.90 K/9 . He was named pitcher-of-the-week three times and also won two playoff games for the Bulls.
The fact that Seo was choosing to come back to Korea at all was something of a surprise. Although he wasn’t going to be offered a new contract with Tampa Bay, its likely he would have gotten a long look as a No. 5 starter for a team in MLB. One would think he certainly has more left in the tank than Park Chan-ho, who signed a 1-year deal with the Dodgers last week.
Upon arriving in Korea Seo did mention his family as being one of the reasons he wanted to return to Asia.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Will // Nov 14, 2007 at 11:35 am
I like Jae Seo, wish him the best. He had a few good years in the majors (2003 / 2005), but too many times the velocity and control went AWOL and he got smoked. Here’s hoping he has some good years in Japan or Korea.
2 A.S. // Nov 14, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Me too. I’ll always maintain that when he was traded by the Mets, the team that signed him, the team that sent him to the minors but gave him another chance, that it was an emotional blow. And then to end up in Tampa.
I saw a quote by him earlier this year and he said he still hoped to end his career with the Mets. I don’t think he got over it. He was never the same until this year in Durham. I bet in getting back closer to home he’ll do really well. Japan is a good spot for him.
3 John Brooks // Nov 14, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Yeah, I’ve always like Seo as a player. Though it seemed he never was able to repeat that 2005 season. He always seemed to identify himself as a Met from everything I’ve read about him. After being traded to the Dodgers, he just seemed to be lost.
He showed some promise in the World Baseball Classic, but struggled with the Dodgers and Devil Rays. It should be good for him to be closer to home. Plus a re-union with former manager Bobby Valentine couldn’t hurt the transition to NPB.
4 jackson // Nov 14, 2007 at 5:25 pm
What happened to the banner? Was Seo showing too much skin in the photo or something?
5 A.S. // Nov 14, 2007 at 6:06 pm
It was a little crooked. I’ll call the Durham Bulls design team and see if they’ll make us a new one.
6 Will // Nov 20, 2007 at 1:25 pm
From what I can see on the Net, Bobby Valentine only managed Seo for one game (Jul 21st 2002, Mets at Cincinnati, 1.0 IP, 0 R, 1 K), so I doubt there’s a close connection.
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