The 2025 Major League Spring Camp is nearing its halfway mark. However, Park Hyo-joon, who was rated higher than Kim Ha-sung (30, Tampa Bay) when he was an amateur, has yet to find a team. Some even say that his career can be over like this.
Park Hyo-joon made his Major League debut as a member of the New York Yankees back in 2021. It was his joy six years after moving to the U.S. in 2015. However, the joy did not last long.
Park was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates soon after his debut in the Major League. A year later, he played in a total of 23 games in the Major League in 2022, showing poor performance with a batting average of 0.216 and two homers, six RBIs and four steals. His OPS, which combined on-base plus slugging percentage, also stood at 0.649. This is his last major league record.
Afterwards, Park signed a minor contract with Atlanta and sought to return to the big leagues, but failed to achieve his goal. Park was invited to the Major League spring camp after signing a minor contract with the Oakland Athletics last year. Then, Park displayed outstanding performance with a batting average of 0.477 and one homer and nine RBIs. OPS posted a whopping 1.137.
However, his long-awaited return to the Major League fell through. Major League experts expressed regret over the decision, saying that the opt-out clause was not included in the contract. Opt-out refers to the right to break an existing contract and become a free agent again if the result is not achieved within a certain period of time.
Choi Ji-man (34) also joined the Major League spring camp after signing a minor contract with Milwaukee in 2018. It was similar to Park Hyo-joon's case last year. Choi Ji-man also hit hard nearly 40 percent at the time, resulting in his inclusion on the 26-man roster for the opening game of the Major League. The difference between Park and Hyo-joon is that he included the opt-out condition in his contract.
Choi Ji-man's return to the big leagues eventually turned out to be a turning point and was traded to Tampa Bay that year, and he was able to play for six years in the major leagues.
Park Hyo-joon, who is presumed to have had no opt-out clause, started last year's season with Triple-A of the Minor League under the Oakland Athletics. He did well during the season and sought to return to the big league, but it never came true. In Triple-A, Park appeared in a total of 115 games, posting a batting average of 0.254 with nine homers and 55 RBIs. His performance was not enough to be expected to be a call-up in the Major League.
In November last year, MHN Sports, which was covering Park Hyo-joon's recent situation, asked the public relations team of the Oakland Athletics team whether Park belongs to the team. "Park Hyo-joon is no longer an Oakland player," an official said. This means that he ended his stay with the Oakland Athletics after the end of the season and became a minor league FA. 안전놀이터
However, although the year has changed and the spring camp has begun, no news has been heard about Park's contract. Considering Park's small age, it is regrettable to end her career like this.
Park Hyo-joon performed better than Kim Ha-sung, who was a year older than Yatap High School. That's why his junior was unusually selected as the team's main shortstop. This is why he was nominated by the New York Yankees.
About 10 years later, Park Hyo-joon has become invincible while wandering Minor-ri, and Kim Ha-sung signed a two-year FA contract with Tampa Bay earlier this year based on his four-year career in San Diego in the Major League.
Both baseball and life are "nothing to know."