Slugger Lee Re-signs With Yomiuri

In 2004, after failing to adapt himself to Japanese baseball, Lee Seung-yeop once seriously considered returning to Korea. In 2005, he wasn’t even guaranteed to be on the starting lineup despite the 30 homers he had hit during the season. In 2006, he was transferred from Lotte to Yomiuri and his salary was cut. But after a season with the Yomiuri Giants, he has risen proudly to national stardom with 41 home runs.

After spending four seasons in Japan, Lee Seung-yeop (30) will be receiving prestigious treatment, almost equivalent to what the former Yomiuri superstar Hideki Matsui (32, New York Yankees) had.

On November 5, Yomiuri signed a long-term contract with Lee that is valid for four years up to 2010. After visiting the team’s office and signing it, Lee had a press meeting. Although the exact amount of salary has not been announced, Giants representative Hidetoshi Kiyotake said, “It’s either similar to Matsui’s or even slightly better.”

Matsui, who was the 62nd clean-up hitter (fourth batter) in Yomiuri’s history, earned 610 million yen (roughly 4.88 billion won) in 2002, the last season he played in Japan before joining Major League Baseball. Accordingly, for the team’s 70th clean-up man, Lee’s annual salary is estimated to be around 600 million yen (roughly 4.8 billion won). Including the signing fee and optional bonuses, he could make the colossal amount of 3 billion yen (roughly 24 billion won) in four years.

This year, Lee received 210 million yen (roughly 1.68 billion won), including a signing fee of 50 million yen and an annual salary of 160 million yen. The player who earned the most from Yomiuri this year was the team’s ace Koji Uehara, who got 340 million yen (roughly 2.72 billion won).

Kiyotake mentioned that, “we agreed to discuss again what he could do after Yomiuri wins a season,” opening the way for Lee to move to the major leagues. With this contract, Lee got both of the things he wanted: a shot at the major leagues and a good salary.

uni@donga.com