Tsvug Pirates Choi Ji-man (31) is likely to escape from the swamp of Platoon.
MLB.com , the official website 스포츠토토 of Major League Baseball, reported on the 28th (Korea Standard Time) that “Pittsburgh and the Milwaukee Brewers have agreed to a trade.”
Pittsburgh gave up veteran first baseman Carlos Santana (37) and made a trade to receive shortstop prospect Zani Severino from Milwaukee. Severino joined Milwaukee in 2022 on an international contract.
Santana signed a one-year, $6.75 million FA contract with Pittsburgh in November last year. His performance this season was 0.235 batting average, 12 home runs, 53 RBIs, 0.321 on-base percentage, and 0.733 OPS.
Santana, who made his major league debut in the Cleveland Indians (now Cleveland Guardians) uniform in 2010, showed off his long-hitting power to the extent that he hit double-digit home runs for nine consecutive years, starting with 27 home runs in 2011. His career record in Major League Baseball is 0.242 290 home runs and 978 RBIs. He is about to achieve 300 home runs in his career.
Santana’s transfer is expected to give Choi Ji-man, who is in the same position, more opportunities to play. Choi Ji-man has a batting average of 0.188, six home runs, 10 RBIs, and an on-base percentage of 0.209 and an OPS of 0.709 this year.
Jason McKee, a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, predicted, “Choi Ji-man is likely to play first base.”
Choi Ji-man, who was traded from the Tampa Bay Rays to Pittsburgh ahead of this season, was briefly out of power due to a left Achilles tendon injury early in the season. And he made his comeback against the Arizona Diamondbacks on the 8th.
Since returning from injury, he has been batting .250 with four home runs and eight RBIs in 11 games. In particular, Kim Ha-sung and the Korean Major Leaguer faced off against the San Diego Padres on the 27th, and he shot his sixth home run of the season in front of Kim Ha-sung.
