Did the Atlanta Braves just sign an international prospect… from Korea?

The Braves did acquire some extra International monies to spend… and it seems that spending space isn’t going to go wasted.

There is some interesting Atlanta Braves news this morning:

First off, let’s save ourselves from the obvious “bae” puns.  But this 18-year-old kid may have been pried away from the Korean baseball circuit via an ‘International Free Agent’ signing.

While we have no confirmation at all that the Braves are the signing team, it’s certainly plausible – though his contract would require a maximum bonus of $300,000 or less to be  under the cap imposed due to last Summer’s indulgent spending spree.

Here’s the story from OSEN on Ji-Hwan (including a photo of the kid via his Instagram account)… but I’ll attempt a translation for us all… with some edits to smooth it out a bit:

"Bae Ji-hwan (committed to Kyungpook National University), who is [now on a] youth team, [has] declared his [intention to transfer to] the [US] major leagues. [He has] already signed the contract and will officially announce the club and contract details.Bae Ji-hwan’s mother, Chung Tae-ok, said on the telephone with OSEN on November 11, “I can not reveal the club, but I have already signed the contract.  [more on that November reference below]Jung did not disclose the specific name of the club, but it is certain that he signed with the Atlanta Braves.Bae Ji-hwan, ranked number [among?] high school [graduates?], won the national tournament this year with a batting average of .465 (40 hits in 86 at-bats), one home run, 17 RBIs, 28 RBIs and 29 steals.Badge [was likely to be a first round draft pick] of the 2018 KBO new draft held at the Westin Chosun Hotel Grand Ballroom at 2 pm on November 11.However, with the announcement of major leagues, each club is expected to make a change in its [draft] plan. /what@osen.co.kr"

The fact that both dates cite November 11 could be a typo in the translation.  The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) draft was held today (started about 10 hours ago):

Beyond that, ‘November 11’ makes no sense in terms of the timing for either the J2 signing season here in the US or for the KBO with their draft… but it does appear that the Braves may have swooped in and snatched a promising young infielder away from the KBO at the last minute before the draft started.

In terms of the player himself – the only information I was able to dig up was this story from 9 days ago:

Korea defeat Chinese Taipei, Australia outscore Italy to open Day 2 of the U-18 Baseball World Cup

"In a game started with a 2 hour rain delay, Korea defeat (8-2) Chinese Taipei playing almost perfect baseball behind effective starter Yang Changseop, who earns the win allowing only 3 hits over 7 innings.Korea get on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the third. With one out, Chinese Taipei starter Liu Chih Jung hits left fielder Yi Inhyok. Second baseman Choi Junwoo follows with a base hit and lead off shortstop Bae Jihwan walks to load the bases. Right fielder Choi Hyunjun hits a hard liner to left that is caught but still is deep enough for Yi to score.Korea add a run in the fourth as designated hitter Kang Baekho leads off with a first pitch home run."

Apparently he’s at least good enough to be the starting shortstop of this U18 World Cup team for his country – not something to be dismissed.

UPDATE:  H/t to @RDPinRVA for this retweet:

Next: But what about next year?

Hopefully we’ll learn a bit more, but it does sound like the Braves are still (highly) actively searching the globe for useful players to add.