Gocheok Dome in Seoul is filled with Japanese spectators
I thought it was the '2024 ML Seoul Opening Series' for Kim Ha-seong (San Diego Padres), a 'star' raised in Korea, but it turned around in the winter transfer market. Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul is expected to be filled with Japanese spectators.
The protagonist of the '2024 ML Seoul Opening Series', which will be played between San Diego and LA Dodgers for two days on March 20th and 21st, has changed. This is because the Dodgers welcomed both Japanese superstars through aggressive recruitment in this winter transfer market.
First, on the 10th, 'superstar' Shohei Ohtani signed a 'super-large' 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers. Ohtani signed a special contract, the largest in sports history, and unless something goes wrong, he will visit Korea and participate in next year's opening series.
On the 22nd (Korean time), the Dodgers recruited another star. This is Yoshinobu Yamamoto , a top pitcher who swept the Japanese professional baseball stage.
“The LA Dodgers have completed a contract worth more than $300 million with Yamamoto.” The contract size is 12 years and 325 million dollars (approximately 422.9 billion won), making it a ‘super-large’ contract.
The size of the contract is the longest contract ever for a major league pitcher, surpassing the 10-year contract signed by Wayne Garland of the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) in 1976. The amount is also the highest for a pitcher. The previous highest amount was $324 million for nine years when the New York Yankees paid pitcher Gerrit Cole in December 2019.
San Diego already has Yu Darvish , a pitcher representing Japan, and as news of Ohtani's transfer to the Dodgers broke, interest in the opening game in Seoul is also growing in Japan. With Yamamoto joining in, many baseball fans from Japan are expected to flock to Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, where they can see these three superstars in one place.
In addition, as Kim Ha-seong's trade rumors continue, there is a possibility that the opening game in Seoul will be 'without Kim Ha-seong'. In many ways, the probability that there will be more Japanese spectators than Korean spectators is increasing.