Brewers sign Jung Ho Kang to a minor league contract [Latest: Haven’t reached an agreement yet]

[TURBO]

Brewers signed INF Jung Ho Kang to a minor league contract.

 

Kang was released by the Pirates earlier this month but has now caught on with another team in the National League Central. The 32-year-old infielder has batted just .169/.222/.395 over 185 plate appearances this season but could give the Brew Crew a power bat off the bench down the stretch.

 

Source: Tom Haudricourt on Twitter

 

Aug 16, 2019, 9:57 AM ET

[TURBO]

His history of sexual assault and DUIs might not sit too well with fans and teammates...This is a bit of a controversial signing imo.

 

I don't believe that the sexual assault was ever proven, but 3 DUIs can't be a fluke.

[KeithStone53151]

Ay ay ay, why is it the first thing people seem to care about is the non-baseball related stuff when deciding whether they like a baseball move? Minor league contract, he certainly has some talent. I like the idea of him getting some AAA action and see if his bat can heat up.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Kind of a weird commentary. I think if given the choice, most people would prefer to cheer for a good citizen on their hometown team rather than a 3x drunk driver accused of sexual assault. I can look past one DUI or sketchy incident, but I'd personally rather not make a roster of 90s Dallas Cowboys.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Kang also has odd career platoon splits that indicate he will be of no help against left-handed pitching.

[Baldkin]

Ay ay ay, why is it the first thing people seem to care about is the non-baseball related stuff when deciding whether they like a baseball move? Minor league contract, he certainly has some talent. I like the idea of him getting some AAA action and see if his bat can heat up.

 

Because I don't enjoy cheering for crappy people.

[KeithStone53151]

It's one guy on a minor league contract. If given the choice, I'd take the model citizen all else being equal. But I assume they picked this guy for a reason. All the self-righteous comments about not wanting a guy because he has a DUI or this or that is just boring and wildly overplayed. Next up will be not wanting a guy because he got too many parking tickets.

[JohnBriggs12]

Ay ay ay, why is it the first thing people seem to care about is the non-baseball related stuff when deciding whether they like a baseball move? Minor league contract, he certainly has some talent. I like the idea of him getting some AAA action and see if his bat can heat up.

 

Hard to imagine his bat can heat up fast enough to be better PH option in September than Freitas. Yeah he can play 3B, but you going to give him that role over the popular good citizen Perez who's had a hit in all 3 of the games he's played since his return?

[JosephC]

Much more excited about this signing than most. If Kang's leg is OK, this could turn out to be a great signing because the guy can hit. One just has to wonder where he is at physically, because he hasn't hit since that injury. But I don't think this is like Lawrie, who had broken down physically but had seasons of being a pretty mediocre player prior to the breakdown. Kang was a really good player who hasn't even gotten 200 MLB plate appearances since that injury occurred, I think there is a chance that he could still be a good major league player.

 

I guess I'm seeing this more as an acquisition for 2020 and beyond, rather than being a "down the stretch" type deal. Pretty decent insurance policy if Moustakas doesn't return.

 

As far as the off-field stuff, there were multiple reports out of Pittsburgh that said Kang had really matured and was a model citizen since he's gotten back. And that stuff was said even after they DFA'ed him, see the following for one example:

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2019/08/02/pittsburgh-pirates-jung-ho-kang-dfa-pable-reyes-erik-gonzalez/stories/201908020101

[adambr2]

Ay ay ay, why is it the first thing people seem to care about is the non-baseball related stuff when deciding whether they like a baseball move? Minor league contract, he certainly has some talent. I like the idea of him getting some AAA action and see if his bat can heat up.

 

When you're talking about a difference making talent this is, for better or worse, entirely true.

 

When you're wading through the waters of marginal 32 year olds who haven't been good in several years, things like a clear drinking problem and allegations of date rape tend to usually be disqualifying factors.

[KeithStone53151]

Ay ay ay, why is it the first thing people seem to care about is the non-baseball related stuff when deciding whether they like a baseball move? Minor league contract, he certainly has some talent. I like the idea of him getting some AAA action and see if his bat can heat up.

 

When you're talking about a difference making talent this is, for better or worse, entirely true.

 

When you're wading through the waters of marginal 32 year olds who haven't been good in several years, things like a clear drinking problem and allegations of date rape tend to usually be disqualifying factors.

 

DUI's don't necessarily mean he has a drinking problem, moreso poor decision making while drinking. It was one thing when fans didn't want the Ray Rice's of the world playing for their team, but this level of self-righteousness is pretty bad when you're too good to cheer for a guy with 3 DUI's. I made sure to bold out the fact that the date rape thing was allegations only. I don't think he was even charged. Sooooooo, that's completely irrelevant.

[TURBO]

 

DUI's don't necessarily mean he has a drinking problem...

 

Seriously?

 

If you get busted 3 times for drunk driving, how many times do you think he did it without getting busted? 10, 20, 100 times? More?

 

3 DUIs is for 100% certainty, a drinking problem.

[KeithStone53151]

 

DUI's don't necessarily mean he has a drinking problem...

 

Seriously?

 

If you get busted 3 times for drunk driving, how many times do you think he did it without getting busted? 10, 20, 100 times? More?

 

3 DUIs is for 100% certainty, a drinking problem.

 

So maybe he made the bad decision to drive after drinking a lot of times and only got caught 3. But it's a decision thing, it's not a drinking problem thing. I'd bet pro athletes are out getting hammered often on non-gamedays, I'd bet a lot drink a heck of a lot more than Jung Ho Kang...they just don't drive and nobody knows.

[brooks_quichenick]

I hate this move. A lot.

[JosephC]

I don't recall many Brewer fans wanting to release Gallardo after he got his DUI.

 

I don't recall many Brewer fans having a big problem with Jeffress in 2018, even after the pee-pants incident he had while in Texas. And how many drug tests did Jeffress fail while in the minors? Think that was the absolute first and only time that Jeffress was behind the wheel while intoxicated?

 

If Kang comes up and does well, there won't be one Brewer fan complaining about his DUI's then.

 

I've come to accept the completely hypocrisy that sports fans exhibit when it comes to players on the teams they root for.

 

All cases should be looked at individually. There have been enough recent, positive things said about Kang out of Pittsburgh (even after him getting DFA'ed) that I have no problem with the Brewer's adding him to the organization.

[tmwiese55]

Don't want to wade much into such a bad argument. But let's not forget that probably 5-10K commit a DUI when they leave Miller Park every game. I don't think those same fans are going to be up in arms about it...

[MadScientist]

 

DUI's don't necessarily mean he has a drinking problem...

 

Seriously?

 

If you get busted 3 times for drunk driving, how many times do you think he did it without getting busted? 10, 20, 100 times? More?

 

3 DUIs is for 100% certainty, a drinking problem.

 

So maybe he made the bad decision to drive after drinking a lot of times and only got caught 3. But it's a decision thing, it's not a drinking problem thing. I'd bet pro athletes are out getting hammered often on non-gamedays, I'd bet a lot drink a heck of a lot more than Jung Ho Kang...they just don't drive and nobody knows.

Getting drunk regularly is the definition of a drinking problem. Driving afterwards just adds a catastrophically stupid component to it.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Don't want to wade much into such a bad argument. But let's not forget that probably 5-10K commit a DUI when they leave Miller Park every game. I don't think those same fans are going to be up in arms about it...

 

 

That estimate is almost certainly comically high. I don't dispute people do it, but most people make the smart choice to have 1 or 2 or have a DD.

 

As far as a DUI not being an indicator of a drinking problem, I can agree...once. After that, you've got a drinking problem. I do have friends with multiples and every one of them can't cut themselves off.

 

The amount of people who drink alcohol, period, is exaggerated because drinkers tend to put it out there. Random fact, but while the USA has the highest ratio of binge drinkers, it also has the highest % of its population that doesn't consume alcohol at all - about 50% of its adults.

[MadScientist]

I don't recall many Brewer fans wanting to release Gallardo after he got his DUI.

 

I don't recall many Brewer fans having a big problem with Jeffress in 2018, even after the pee-pants incident he had while in Texas. And how many drug tests did Jeffress fail while in the minors? Think that was the absolute first and only time that Jeffress was behind the wheel while intoxicated?

 

If Kang comes up and does well, there won't be one Brewer fan complaining about his DUI's then.

 

I've come to accept the completely hypocrisy that sports fans exhibit when it comes to players on the teams they root for.

 

All cases should be looked at individually. There have been enough recent, positive things said about Kang out of Pittsburgh (even after him getting DFA'ed) that I have no problem with the Brewer's adding him to the organization.

I remember a lot of people here being upset over Gallardo's DUI, and people only stopped being upset over Jeffress's drug usage after it came out that he suffers from seizures and the pot usage helped control it.

 

But yes, if he does well, his personal problems will be overlooked, at least as long as he doesn't repeat them.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

If they came up and tore it up I'd obviously be happy about it. I'm not gonna buy the jersey of a guy like that or go around pretending he's a great guy, like so many fans do. I think it's severe delusion when a fan base suddenly defends a guy's character because he plays well, like Johnny Jolly or something. I'd enjoy watching him play well and end it there.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

In my opinion, this move is "meh". It has nothing to do with Kang's behavior or criminal past. I just don't think he's very good.

[josh]

I'm against driving under the influence. Unless we're talking about line drives.

[adambr2]

Ay ay ay, why is it the first thing people seem to care about is the non-baseball related stuff when deciding whether they like a baseball move? Minor league contract, he certainly has some talent. I like the idea of him getting some AAA action and see if his bat can heat up.

 

When you're talking about a difference making talent this is, for better or worse, entirely true.

 

When you're wading through the waters of marginal 32 year olds who haven't been good in several years, things like a clear drinking problem and allegations of date rape tend to usually be disqualifying factors.

 

DUI's don't necessarily mean he has a drinking problem, moreso poor decision making while drinking. It was one thing when fans didn't want the Ray Rice's of the world playing for their team, but this level of self-righteousness is pretty bad when you're too good to cheer for a guy with 3 DUI's. I made sure to bold out the fact that the date rape thing was allegations only. I don't think he was even charged. Sooooooo, that's completely irrelevant.

 

You don't seem to have a lot of exposure to alcoholism in your life if you don't think that 3 DUIs isn't at least a sign of a pretty serious problem. I've known numerous people with multiple DUIs and each one had a chronic problem with alcohol. Each one required pretty intense rehab, two are fortunately recovering and the other is now dead .

I could understand one isolated incident for an individual, people in control of their drinking don't end up with 3 DUIs, that simply does not happen.

 

#2, no one said I was "too good" to cheer for a guy with 3 DUI's, that was your words. #3, if allegations are irrelevant, Addison Russell should never have been suspended, yes? Allegations certainly come into play when considering signings. Standing by your own existing players is different than bringing new ones in.

[JimH5]

I don't like that the GM of my hometown team is open to signing guys with off-field criminal issues. They're not all going to be model citizens, but 3 DUIs is disqualifying to me. I don't know enough of the details of his sexual assault case, but if guilty, that's an even bigger thing.

 

Boo on Stearns for this one.

[Outlander]

I really dislike when my favorite sports teams signs guys like this but a minor league deal so hoping he never plays for the Brewers. I hated when K-Rod played here and posted quite a bit about it and really ruined my enjoyment since he was basically closing out every Brewers win. We all have a past and have made mistakes but this is entertainment and it is not as entertaining for me to watch whether it is sports, movies, tv, music, etc.