Pirates re-sign Jung Ho Kang

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced this morning that they have re-signed infielder Jung Ho Kang to a 1-year contract for 2019. His option had been declined prior to the new deal.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the deal is a 1-year deal that will pay Kang $3M base to go along with $2.5M in incentives for performance. 

Kang, 31, has gone through troubling times since 2016, missing time after a sexual assault allegation case that seemed to vanish into nowhere, as well as his DUI arrest in Korea that kept him stuck there for nearly two years. He came back to the country last season but didn’t play too much as he was injured and struggled to get back. He, however, did return to the majors the last series of the regular season and got six plate appearances and got a couple hits but nothing of major note.

Prior to his troubles, he was becoming one of the better hitters on the Pirates and was poised to become a major power threat. Between 2015 and 2016, he hit 36 home runs in 229 games (though, he hit 21 in just 103 games in 2016). He was on the rise after his big campaign in 2016 that was cut short. He had wRC+’s those seasons of 128 and 132 respectively and was worth a total of 5.8 WAR, and it would have definitely been more had he not been held to limited action in either season because of injuries and allegations. So the point is that he was productive. 

But we may not be seeing the same Kang we did before. Having only played 3 MLB games and having 6 plays appearances in two seasons makes it a rough road back. He’s barely even played in the minors in that time either and his short Winter Ball stint in 2017 was a disaster to say the least. 

However, at $3M, it’s a decent gamble. The contract isn’t expensive by MLB standards and if he reaches his incentives, he’ll be worth every penny of the deal and then some. If he can even be half of what he used to be, that’d be very helpful for the Pirates. The Pirates have very little to lose here in a low-risk move.