THE BULLPEN

     Mrs. Black-N-Gold has been hearing and reading many comments from Black-N-Gold Nation regarding your Pittsburgh Pirates latest acquisition, INF Jung Ho Kang. Many of the remarks have been negative. Mrs. Black-N-Gold is a bit disappointed in the Pirates faithful. Look, this kid hasn't even fielded one grounder or taken a swing yet for our Buccos and the negativity is raining down on him like a thunderstorm on the fields of Bradenton. Can we at least reserve judgment until Kang has played in a game, please? Until then, we don't really know much about him.

     What we do know is that your Pittsburgh Pirates won the right to negotiate with Kang back in December by posting $5,002,015 for said rights. If Kang were the second-coming of Derek Jeter, the Pirates posting fee wouldn't have even been in the same ballpark as teams like the Yankees, the Dodgers and the Red Sox. Look at how Bob Nutting's Bucs are never able to compete with the big-money teams when it comes to the Yasiel Puigs of the world. I say "Kudos" to the Buccos for thinking outside the box and attempting to make Kang the first position player to make the move from the Korean Baseball Organization to the Majors.

     This week the Pirates and Kang agreed to a 4-year deal with $11 million guaranteed and a club option for 2019. True, Kang is an unproven commodity. This scares most fans as an unnecessary risk for the cost-conscious Pirates. Do they not take the same risks when singing their picks from MLB's amateur draft? For every Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates have had at least twice as many Bryan Bullingtons. Nothing is a sure thing. Kang's numbers last season with the Nexen Heroes make him an intriguing option. Jung Ho hit .356 with 40 home runs (2nd) and 117 RBI (3rd). He also led his league in slugging at .739 and OPS at 1.198.

      Most talking heads don't project Kang as a Major League shortstop, saying he may be better off at third or second base. At Kang's press conference he was quoted as saying he can do better than incumbent Pirates SS Jordy Mercer. This rubbed the Bucco faithful the wrong way. The attitude from Pirates fans was "How dare he say he's better than our shortstop". Consider that Kang is from South Korea. Perhaps something was lost in the translation. Maybe he meant he wanted to play better than he did last season? Even if it were true that Kang thinks he can unseat Mercer at short, is that a bad thing? Jordy himself didn't get bent out of shape over the remarks. He welcomes the competition. That's the type of attitude you want from your ballplayers. You want men who want to compete against each other for the better of the team.

      If Kang doesn't beat out Jordy, then what? Pirates GM Neal Huntington has made it clear that the Pirates are not paying Kang to leave his country, family and team to come to America to play minor league ball. There will be plenty of room in the lineup for Kang throughout the 162-game season and beyond. When he comes to spring training in February, Kang will be given every opportunity to show the fans what all the fuss is about. Even if he is one of the Pirates bench players, he can't be any worse then Jayson Nix, Micheal Martinez or Brett Morel, can he? All Mrs. Black-N-Gold is asking is that fans give Jung Ho a chance before they give him the heave-ho. Let's Go Bucs!!!!!