Giants, KIA
Tigers Close To
Brett Pill Deal
The Giants have a
Deal in place with the Korean Baseball Organization's KIA
Tigers to sell
Brett Pill to the Gwangju-based club, with just financial details left to be finalized,
CSNBayArea.com's Andrew Baggarly reports.*
Pill is negotiating with KIA
Tigers about a new contract, though the
Deal will fall through if
Pill and the
Tigers can't come to terms.
The Giants are expected to receive around $500K in the sale, Baggarly **tes, which is roughly twice as much as teams usually receive in such transactions.* Earlier today, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle
tweeted that the Giants were asking for as much as $1MM for Pill's rights and multiple teams in Korea and Japan were interested.
Pill, 29, has blossomed as a prospect over the last five seasons, culminating in a 1.010 OPS in 298 PA for Triple-A Fres** in 2013.* He's received only 259 PA over three seasons at the Major League level, however, and there seemed little hope of more playing time given the Giants' depth at first base, Pill's ideal position.*
Brandon Belt looks to be the everyday first baseman in 2014, with
Mike Morse also a candidate for playing time and
Buster Posey also likely to get more time at first over the years in order to protect him from the rigors of catching.*
Pill has also seen time in left field and the Giants have experimented with him at second and third in the mi**rs to try and find a place for his bat in the lineup.
Giants< KIA Tigers Close To Brett Pill Deal