Pirates possibly scouting KBO first baseman Byung-Ho Park

The Pirates have applied for credentials to scout Jung-Ho Kang's old team, the Nexen Heroes, today, Jee-Ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency reports. That team features Byung-Ho Park, a 28-year-old first baseman who hit 52 homers last year and who could make the jump to the big leagues in 2016.

There are caveats here -- a bunch of MLB teams are scouting the Heroes, and a Heroes official says that the scouts aren't in attendance purely to watch Park. That the Pirates are scouting one game doesn't necessarily mean much. But since Park is a superstar who's eligible to be posted next winter, he's surely a key reason teams are interested.

I wrote a bit about Park here. Whether the Pirates sign him could depend on a number of factors, like how well Pedro Alvarez performs this year, or whether the Bucs can get the right-handed Park cheaply enough that it would make sense to use him in a bench role that they might expand later, a little like they're apparently planning with Kang. Like Kang, Park is one of the best players in the KBO and a monster power hitter there, but also like Kang, he's strikeout-prone. Also, he's just a first baseman, so he won't be as versatile or as valuable defensively as Kang can be.

Via MLB Trade Rumors.