Been Gwak : Ace of KBO & South Korea
Hi everyone! I'm Demian, an A's fan from South Korea.
You may have seen the news recently that former Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park became an investor in the A's as part of a consortium.
On the night of the investment ceremony mentioned in the article, the A's ownership group watched a KBO game with Chan Ho Park at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
At the ceremony, Park said he hoped this would help create opportunities for the next generation of South Korean players to reach MLB.
Well, maybe the first one will be the pitcher who started that game that night.
His name is **Been Gwak.**
(Stats: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=gwak--000bee)
(Aug 11 Pitching Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p55O9v1xKRI)
Gwak is a right-handed starter born in 1999, currently pitching for the Doosan Bears — my favorite team in the KBO.
He currently ranks 1st in strikeouts, 2nd in wins, and 2nd in ERA.
His fastball tops out around 98 mph, and he also throws a cutter, slider, curveball, and changeup.
He's always had the stuff, but it felt like he was just missing that last 2%. This season, his command has really taken a step forward, and he looks much more confident on the mound. I'd say he's taken a pretty significant step forward from last year.
He has also said that his experience with Team South Korea in the WBC last offseason helped him a lot.
For some background, the Doosan Bears are the team that previously had Dodgers and former A's pitcher Cole Irvin, Blue Jays outfileder Daz Cameron, former Rangers pitcher Dustin Nippert and former Brewers pitcher Josh Lindblom, and Hyun Soo Kim played for them before eventually signing with the Orioles.
The Bears are also one of the six teams that have remained in the KBO since the league was founded in 1982. They're one of two KBO teams based in Seoul, along with the LG Twins, and both share Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
Gwak will become eligible for the MLB posting system after the 2027 KBO season. He recently said that even if he fails, he still wants to challenge himself in MLB.
As for the A's, there have been a few South Korean players in their minor league system over the years: LHP Sang-Hoon Lee, C Seong-min Kim, and IF Hoy Park.
The A’s were already pretty well-known among South Korean Baseball fans, largely because of Moneyball and Billy Beane. But lately, they’ve unfortunately gained a bit of a... less-than-great reputation over there.
They're the team that made an offer to Ha-Seong Kim last offseason, only to have him turn it down.
Going a little further back, they're also the team that tried to sign Do Yeong Kim — the 2024 KBO MVP — as an international amateur, but couldn't get the deal done.
And even further back, they were reportedly interested in ByungHo Park through the posting system, but ultimately lost out to the Minnesota Twins.
So, as a South Korean A's fan, I can't help but feel like we've been waiting a while for that first South Korean player to actually make it to the big leagues with A's.
Could Been Gwak become the first South Korean player to join the A's as they begin their new chapter in Las Vegas?
I'm going to throw out a completely irresponsible early prediction:
**4 years / $20M.** 😅
There have been quite a few South Korean MLB players over the years, but among the players who came to MLB without first playing in the KBO, most of the names that come to mind are from an earlier generation: Chan Ho Park, Byung-Hyun Kim, Jae Weong Seo, Sun-Woo Kim, Hee-Seop Choi, Shin-Soo Choo, and Ji-Man Choi.
Since around 2015, a number of South Korean prospects have signed with MLB organizations, but Ji-hwan Bae is still the only one from that group to establish himself in the major leagues.
On the other hand, we've had a pretty good number of players make it to MLB after playing in the KBO and using the posting system: Hyun Jin Ryu, Kwang Hyun Kim, Hyeon-Jong Yang, ByungHo Park, Jung Ho Kang, Ha-Seong Kim, Hyeseong Kim, Jung Hoo Lee, Sung-Mun Song, and Woo-Suk Go, among others.
These days, young South Korean players coming out of high school either sign with an MLB organization or politely decline an offer from an MLB team and enter the KBO draft instead.
There is also an interesting wrinkle here: if a player skips the KBO draft and signs with an MLB team directly out of high school, there are restrictions on returning to the KBO later. If they eventually want to play in South Korea, they generally have to wait two years before becoming eligible again. In practice, many players in this situation end up doing their mandatory military service during that period.
Most of the recent players who reached MLB through the KBO posting system have been position players.
And when it comes to big MLB contracts, Hyun Jin Ryu and Jung Hoo Lee are probably the two biggest examples.
Since ByungHo Park, we've had Jung Ho Kang, Ha-Seong Kim, Hyeseong Kim, Jung Hoo Lee and Sung-Mun Song successfully make the jump to MLB through the posting system, although most haven't made a huge impact at the major league level.
That's why I think Been Gwak is particularly interesting.
He is currently one of the aces of the KBO and Team South Korea, and honestly, he's one of the few South Korean pitchers who makes me believe he could follow in Hyun Jin Ryu's footsteps and become a legitimate MLB rotation arm.
So, my fellow A’s fans — what do you think?
Could Been Gwak be the first South Korean player to wear the A’s uniform in Las Vegas?
I'd certainly love to see it.