We (as in the Cubs, not EWC) signed a couple of Korean players recently. I didn’t want to write about them until the contracts had been approved by MLB.  Writing a post referencing something about a Korean signing with another team, and reported in the  the Korean media is a bit different from writing about Cubs information not yet reported anywhere. Please understand  going forward.

The first is Ha Jae-hoon, who played for Yongma High School in Masan and is originally from Jinju, a small city with one of the best lantern festivals  you could ever hope to find. Ha is  listed as 6′1 and  185 lbs. on his high school roster and Cubs contract, but he’s bigger than that. He projects as a centerfielder, even though he’s mostly played catcher in high school.

And that’s the key with Ha. He can play anywhere. He’s a solid catcher defensively, but his body doesn’t quite project as one at the MLB level. There was some talk of moving him to 2B, and pairing him with Lee Hak-ju, but in the end he’s looking more like an outfielder going forward. Ha is pretty  quick, and runs about 4.2/4.3 to first.  He’s  full tilt all the time and has fantastic baseball instincts.  A “baseball player” if you will.

He gets the bat  through the zone  and I’ve seen him drive the ball to all fields with power. At the high school level in Korea he’s in the upper tier in terms of power, but he’ll have to get stronger once he gets to the U.S. I don’t doubt he will. He’s already told me a couple times he’s looking forward to getting to the team complex in Arizona so he can start working out. Ha has a great attitude and  was his team’s leader at Yongma.

The other player is a right-handed pitcher, Jung Soo-min, who went to Busan High School, the same school Choo Shin-soo went to, and also Ahn Tae-kyeong a pitcher the Rangers signed this past summer. Jung is listed as 6′0 and 192 lbs., but again, he’s bigger than that. Probably 6′2 right now.  Like Ha, has very good makeup. He’s  a bit of a late bloomer, and was actually behind Ahn on the Busan H.S. depth chart going into 2008. However,  by the end of the season he was clearly the go to arm on the team. His fastball at the  beginning of 2008 was reportedly 84-85.  When I saw him in August it was usually around 86-87 and touching  88.  Jung went to Arizona in September for instructional (not the AZL) and after working with coaches there for a couple weeks, is already touching 92.  

As opposed to Ha, who I’d mentioned is kind of a fiery team leader, Jung is quiet and focused. I’ve spent quite a bit of time with both over the past few months (they were already friends prior to the Cubs approaching them) and can say they’re both great kids who will work very hard once they get to Arizona next Jan./Feb.