"The player who failed Taeguk Mark is coming?" I've been chasing you for months, and how did you get your heart

Nov 16, 2024

Mitch White during the LA Dodgers. AP Yonhap News

[Kagoshima (Japan) = Reporter Na Yuri from Sports Chosun]"I'm looking forward to it a lot. I think I brought a really good player."

SSG Landers coach Lee Sung-yong, who was watching the players' final camp training in Kagoshima, Japan, expressed his expectation at the news of the impending recruitment of Mitch White. SSG confirmed the failure to renew the contract with Roenis Elias early on and started to find a new foreign pitcher candidate.

Mitch White is an early player on the radar. White, who is also well known to Korean fans, is a former Korean-major leaguer. My maternal grandparents are Koreans who immigrated to the United States, and my mother is also a second-generation Korean, and Korean blood flows. White is a mixed-race athlete born and raised by a Korean mother and an American father. The uniform of the Korean national team was also a hot topic because of its similar appearance to Park Chan-ho, but at the World Baseball Classic last year, the uniform of the Korean national team was also 'almost worn'.

The nationality is the United States, but the WBC can also decide which country to participate according to their ancestry. White was also able to be transferred to the Korean national team as well as the U.S. national team because he was 'Korean-based '. This is an example like Tommy Edman (LA Dodgers), who played for the WBC national team. But at the time, White politely rejected the team's offer, saying, `I'm not in the big leagues yet.'

Mitch White who signed with SSG Landers. Photo =SSG Landers

This year was also eventful. It was traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the San Francisco Giants and then traded again to the Milwaukee Brewers during the season. After the end of the season, he was in a position to find a new team while qualifying for FA.

SSG had been keeping an eye on White early on. Although he moved his team twice this season, he was not in a situation to come to the KBO League immediately because he was included in the big league roster. SSG, who was watching White, quickly approached him when he qualified as an FA in early October. Since the beginning of October, international part managers have been in contact with each other almost every day for a month, asking how they are doing, and persuading them. It was like courtship.

An SSG official caught the fact that White wanted to play in Korea at least once. So I approached it with that. As the Major League guarantee contract itself became ambiguous after moving the team several times this year, I started persuading him to play in the KBO League once and then try to re-enter the Major League again.

Merrill Kelly, who re-entered the Major League after playing as a 'Ace' for the SK Wyverns. Sports Chosun DB

There are many cases in which he has already returned to the Major Leaguer after succeeding in the KBO League. Merrill Kelly, who played for the SK Wyverns, and White's mind began to move little by little because there were successful cases such as NC Dinos Eric Peddy last year. White's heart finally moved after more than a month of courtship. White is willing to go to SSG in the first week of NovemberNegotiations began specifically when " expressed his intention. SSG made the final signing on the condition that it guarantees a full salary of $1 million, the upper limit that can be given to new foreign players. Now, only medical tests are left.

SSG sees White as a player with sufficient S-class performance in Korea. There are various pitches, and the speed is well over 150km. It is evaluated that the completeness of the breaking ball is also excellent. In the Major League, it has not been fully established yet due to various circumstances, but if the KBO League verifies it again, another opportunity to re-enter the big league could come. It is also quite motivating for White.

White, who is of Korean descent but has never visited Korea since she was seven years old, will soon come to her mother's country. Although he is a foreign player, the fact that he is a Korean-born player is expected to appeal to fans.

youll@sportschosun.com