Chan Ho Park signs with Yankees
Park announced at a press conference in South Korea early this morning that he has signed a one-year deal with the Yankees worth $1.2 million, plus $300,000 worth of incentives.
Chan Ho Park signs with Yankees
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Former Phillies righthander Chan Ho Park has signed with the team who beat them in the World Series. Park announced at a press conference in South Korea early this morning that he has signed a one-year deal with the Yankees worth $1.2 million, plus $300,000 worth of incentives. Park, according to a report by the Yonhap News Agency, said he had considered signing with the Cubs, who had offered him a chance to be a starter, "But I have chosen the Yankees, a prestigious team that can advance to the World Series again."
Of course, Park could have signed with another team that has a chance to advance to the World Series again, and for nearly twice the money he says he landed with the Yankees. The Phillies made no secret of their desire to re-sign Park, who posted a 2.52 ERA and struck out 9.4 batters per nine innings in 50 innings as a reliever last season. They made him an offer in the neighborhood of $3 million per year, but eventually moved on and signed righthanders Danys Baez and Jose Contreras.
Contreras, a former starter with the Yankees and White Sox, is expected to fill the void Park left.
Contreras is actually guaranteed more money by the Phillies -- $1.5 million -- than Park is guaranteed by the Yankees.
Park initially signed with the Phillies last offseason expecting to compete for the fifth spot in the rotation, even though manager Charlie Manuel has said he viewed Park as a reliever. Park did compete, and eventually won the spot, but struggled early on and eventually was replaced by J.A. Happ in the rotation.
Despite success as a reliever, Park was quoted by South Korean reporters this offseason as saying that he wanted to find a team that would give him another chance to start, although the Phillies said they were under the understanding that Park was open to returning to the team as a reliever.
Park doesn't appear to have any shot at starting with the Yankees, who feature C.C. Sabathia, Javier Vazquez, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte, with well-regarded young players Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes competing for the final spot in the rotation.
Another mistake by Ruben. First Lee and now Park. Here is a guy who signed for cheap, and comes in and throws 95 mph.— Bobphxville- davidm1886 - Chan Ho Park made it clear to the Phillis that he wasn't interested in relieving for them. What do you do - look at Phillies' news every six weeks, and then make comments?— steveku2
- parks agent is a yankee fan.— Phillies08
- Someone correct me if I'm wrong, seeing has how I don't live in Philly anymore, but, isn't 1.5 Mil in new york worth even less than half of 3 mil in philly, given how outrageously expensive new york city is?— birdsfaninnc
- The Phillies tried to sign him but they would lie to him about starting. He was going to be a reliever if he signed with the Phillies and he couldn't accept that. So he tested the waters as a starter and found out that he was a reliever. Then he couldn't come crawling back to the Phillies (pride) so he hooked up with the Yankees. That is just the way it goes. No fault of the Phillies, just human nature.— dondon
- Borntosuffer..Please Note. I can absolutely guarantee that the Ho does NOT have a red neck. Krakatoa....Please Note.....your bigotry is showing— mick314
- I would have loved to have him back - sounds like he blew it, thinking someone would want him as a starter. I doubt the Cubs really told him he would be. It was probably - "yeah, you'll get a shot at 5th starter. Sure." Anyway, I wish I could get a comment from the Yankees fan who was sitting next to me at Game 4 of the WS that was making ethnic slurs against Chan Ho. After CHP got out of the inning I kinda ripped into the Yankees fan pretty bad. Of course he had the last laugh, but man was he a loser...— JesseH
- Easy, mick314. My response was to Bartleby. He asked about Myers culturally prefering to be a closer over a starter. For your sake, read a bit more carefully if you are going to look for reasons to get angry when you read blogs. You will still find plenty of legitimate reasons.
- That anybody can blame Ruben for this one is amazing. Ruben offered him more money than he was worth, and when Park refused, Ruben went another direction. Park screwed up here--he could have played for us for 3 million. Let's get it in our heads people--we're one of the top organizations in the game right now. We shouldn't overpay for talent, especially relatively replaceable talent like a long reliever.— phatti
- He should fire his agent immediately.— smfiv
- erroneous, Brett Myers clearly isn't cultured ;)— AbsoluteIrish
- isn't yen a japanese currency?— xrajux
Perfect, I hope Chase hits a grand slam off of him in game 4 to sweep the Yankees and take our title back!!!- Clealry not Ruben's fault that Chan Ho turned down Ruben's superior offer. Where do you come from, Bob? Is Phoenixville outside of Phoenix? Let's wait to see how Contreras and Baez perform before calling this one. I loved the movement on Chan Ho's fastball and I'll remember his performance down the stretch last year.— vafan
- Park should have already been set for life financially, so the difference between what he got from the Yankees and what he could have gotten from the Phils is insignificant (to him). He sure did manage to land on his feet after turning down the Phils' very good offer. Oh well. I hope Baez turns out to be an upgrade.— paolibulldog
