Baltimore Orioles fined for breach of protocol

Major League Baseball has informed its South Korean counterpart it has fined the Baltimore Orioles for breaching protocols in signing a Korean pitcher, officials here said Thursday.According to the Korea Baseball Organization, MLB imposed an unspecified amount of fine on the Orioles, after the club signed 17-year-old pitcher Kim Seong-min last month.The KBO, which runs the top baseball league here, had complained to MLB that the Orioles failed to follow proper steps in acquiring the left-hander

Feb. 16, 2012

Spring training: Laid-back fun in the sun

TAMPA, Florida (AP) ― Major league baseball teams started coming to Florida for spring training almost a century ago, traveling by rail from the often still-frozen North to get in shape and play some exhibition games in the sun.For baseball fans needing an early fix after a long winter, spring training is hard to beat. The weather is almost always sunny and warm, the ballparks are cozier than regular stadiums, beer and hot dogs are cheap(er) and everything ― parking, tailgating, finding your sea

Feb. 15, 2012

Club says pitcher turned down offer to fix games

An active baseball pitcher has acknowledged he turned down an offer from a gambler to join in match-fixing schemes, the player’s club said Wednesday, as match-rigging rumors snowball across all local professional leagues.Moon Sung-hyun, a right-hander for the Nexen Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization, told team officials he turned away an operator of an illegal sports betting site, who approached the pitcher through a mutual friend.The Heroes are in Arizona for offseason training.According

Feb. 15, 2012

Active pitcher turned down offer to fix games: club

An active baseball pitcher has acknowledged he turned down an offer from a gambler to join in match-fixing schemes, the player’s club said Wednesday, as match-rigging rumors snowball across all local professional leagues.Moon Sung-hyun, a right-hander for the Nexen Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organ

Feb. 15, 2012

KBO seeks to revise agreement with MLB to keep players home

The country’s top professional baseball league is pushing to change its player contract agreement with Major League Baseball to ensure young prospects aren’t constantly poached by foreign clubs, a senior official said Friday.Jeong Geum-jo, the head of baseball operations in the Korea Baseball Organization, said the league in particular is seeking revision to a section covering “status check.”Under the agreement, if a major league club wishes to contact an amateur or a professional player who is

Feb. 10, 2012

Salaries of KBO players hit new high

The average annual salary for South Korean professional baseball players reached a record high of 94.4 million won ($84,108) this year, with 112 players receiving a six-figure salary, the country’s baseball governing body said Wednesday. According to the report released by the Korea Baseball Organization, a total of 425 South Korean players, excluding rookies and foreign players, will receive 94.4 million won on average for the 2012 season, up 8.5 percent from the previous record of 87 million w

Feb. 8, 2012

Eland Group survives in Dodgers bidding

Eland Group, South Korea’s leading fashion retailer, has survived the first round in bidding for the Los Angeles Dodgers, industry sources said Monday.“Eland, which created a consortium late last year, submitted its bid and has advanced to the second round of bidding recently,” an anonymous source w

Jan. 31, 2012

Kim Byung-hyun joins Nexen

Kim Byung-hyun, a former All-Star closer in Major League Baseball, has signed with a South Korean club.The Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization announced that they have inked the right-handed submariner to a one-year deal worth 500 million won ($436,870), with a club option for 100 million won. The team also gave him 1 billion won as a signing bonus.Kim, who turns 33 on Thursday, played for the Rakuten Eagles in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball last season and was released in Nove

Jan. 18, 2012

Players, teams start rush to settle in arbitration

NEW YORK (AP) ― Players and teams started rushing to settle arbitration cases Monday, a day before the sides were to swap proposed salaries.Eleven players agreed to contracts, leaving 126 set to exchange figures after 142 filed for arbitration last week. About 100 more were expected to reach agreements before the sides submit proposals Tuesday afternoon for one-year contracts that are not guaranteed.San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum was expected to set records for the highest salaries asked

Jan. 17, 2012

Local baseball rookie found dead at league seminar

A rookie in the country's top baseball league was found dead Tuesday during the league's rookie seminar, officials said.The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said a first-year player for the Doosan Bears, identified by his surname Lee, was found dead around 9 a.m. on Tuesday on stairs leading to the

Jan. 10, 2012

Korean baseball league seeks to adopt draft lottery

The country’s top baseball league may adopt a lottery system for its annual rookie draft as early as next year, officials said Monday.The Korea Baseball Organization is scheduled to hold its first board meeting of 2012 on Tuesday, and the key item on the agenda will be the change to the draft system.Currently, the draft in the eight-team KBO takes place in a reverse-record order, like the NFL. That means the team with the worst record in the previous year automatically earns the first overall pi

Jan. 9, 2012

Marlins land Zambrano

MIAMI (AP) ― Carlos Zambrano will get a much-needed fresh start with the Miami Marlins. The Chicago Cubs traded their former ace Wednesday for Marlins right-hander Chris Volstad, pending physicals and approval by Major League Baseball, a person familiar with the negotiations said. The person confirmed the deal to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the teams hadn’t announced a deal.Zambrano wore out his welcome in Chicago because of repeated meltdowns and tantrums. The most re

Jan. 5, 2012

Kim Dong-joo re-signs with Doosan Bears

Veteran third baseman Kim Dong-joo, the last remaining free agent in the top local baseball league, re-signed with his original club on Monday.The Doosan Bears in the Korea Baseball Organization said they have signed Kim to a three-year deal that will pay him 700 million won ($605,000) per season. The 35-year-old will also receive 500 million won in signing bonus and 200 million won in incentives.Kim has spent his entire 14-year career with the Seoul-based Bears.“I am happy to remain with Doosan

Jan. 2, 2012