San Francisco Giants Return on Investment Has Not Been Good With Jung Hoo Lee

The San Francisco Giants signing of outfielder Jung Hoo Lee has not yet paid off for the team.

May 7, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; San Francisco Giants center fielder Jung Hoo Lee (51) hits a single in the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants were as aggressive as any team during the offseason leading into the 2024 campaign.

They sought upgrades at several positions, bringing in numerous veterans hoping to get back into the postseason. Some, like the signing of third baseman Matt Chapman, were stellar.

Others, like starting pitcher Blake Snell, were mixed bags.

Unfortunately, most of the additions proved to be duds.

Arguably the worst signing that they made was bringing outfielder Jung Hoo Lee over from the KBO.

The Giants signed him to a six-year, $113 million deal along with an $18.825 million posting fee to the Kiwoom Heroes.

San Francisco knew that there would need to be an adjustment period coming over to the MLB. But, his first year with the franchise could not have gone much worse than it did.

Lee recorded a slash line of .262/.310/.331 in 158 plate appearances, hitting two home runs and four doubles with eight RBI. Encouragingly, he did draw 10 walks compared to only 13 strikeouts, showcasing solid strike zone recognition and bat-to-ball skills.

However, he was caught stealing three times and swiped only two bags; less than ideal from a player who was in the leadoff spot. On top of his underwhelming production, he made it through only 37 games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.

When taking all of those factors into account, it is no surprise that Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report has given this free agent signing an F in his re-grade of the biggest offseason deals.

While the early results have been disastrous, there is certainly still hope for Lee to turn things around. He is not yet even in his prime, as he turned only 26 years old in August and in Korea, he was an incredibly productive.

Sometimes, it just takes a little while for the international players to adjust, as Miller pointed out.

“Through 37 MLB games after starting his career in Asia, Ichiro Suzuki hit .361 with an .886 OPS. Shohei Ohtani's marks were .285 and .883, respectively. Masataka Yoshida landed at .299 and .871. But it did take others like Hideki Matusi, Seiya Suzuki and Ha-Seong Kim a good bit longer to start producing after that transition, so perhaps Lee was on the verge of turning a corner after the initial adjustment period.

If he doesn't figure things out, though, this contract is going to become all sorts of painful, as the cash breakdown on Lee's contract is $12M in 2024, $16M in 2025 and $22M in each of 2026 and 2027 before a two-year, $41M player option for 2028-29,” wrote the MLB expert.

Luring free agents to San Francisco has never been easy. Landing the talented outfielder was a big deal, as they committed a ton of money to him.

The Giants should remain hopeful that he will figure it out; 37 games is a small sample size. But, as Miller shared, there are major ramifications if he cannot find his groove and turns out to be a bust of a free agent acquisition.