Kim Makes His Way

Kim Byung-hyun of the Boston Red Sox received his share of new year’s recognition this year.

He received a two-year, $10 million (12 trillion won) contract two days before the Lunar New Year.

Last year Kim received $3.25 million, but this year his ascension to superstar status is helped with a $5 million per year contract. A two-year, $10 million contract is an exceptionally good deal considering the reduced payrolls of Major League Baseball this season.

The expectations the Red Sox have for Kim are revealed by comparing his salary with Scott Williamson, who shared duty with Kim last year as the team’s closer and pitched brilliantly in the playoffs with an ERA of 1.13 in eight games. Williamson agreed to a one-year deal worth $3.175 million for the Red Sox.

The contract erased memories of the “middle-finger incident” and Kim’s violence against a domestic reporter, as well as the trade rumors swirling around Kim, because he has re-proven himself to be a major leaguer packed with talent.

The rest of his major league career appears very promising. Kim has secured a spot in Boston’s starting rotation for the upcoming season.

Boston’s starting pitching will be formidable this year, featuring Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling at the top of the rotation, and Derek Lowe and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield backing them up.

The competition for the last starting rotation spot between Kim and Bronson Arroyo, who had an excellent season in Triple-A last year, seems to have been decided by the size of Kim’s contract. In all likelihood, the Red Sox will not use a $5 million a year pitcher as a reliever.

The Boston Red Sox homepage (http://boston.redsox.mlb.com) backs this up with a statement saying that “the 2-year, $10 million contract implies that Kim will be a starter."

In two years, Kim will be a free agent and he could sign another million-dollar contract. Kim`s domestic manager, Storia`s Lee Jae-seung said that Kim is "really satisfied with the contract." He also commented that Kim would not go to his hometown Gwong Joo for Lunar New Year. Instead he said that Kim would be preparing to leave for the Unted States.

Referring to the domestic assault case, he said that "the mutual agreement hasn`t been met, and I`ll find out whether he can leave the country.”

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com