Which MLB team placed the highest bid on Nexen`s Kang Jung-ho?

Nobody knows, not even the one all this noise is about. Kang Jung-ho, 27, of Korean pro-baseball team Nexen’s Heroes has already completed preparations to leave for the U.S. He said in a news conference held in the Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Sunday, “I still don’t know which team wants to take me on. I want to go to a team that really needs me.” The Korea Baseball Organization informed Nexen that a Major League Baseball team submitted a bid for 5,002,015 U.S. dollars in the posting (closed bidding), and Nexen immediately accepted the bid.

The posting of 5,002,015 dollars is the third highest among Asian baseball players, following Ichiro Suzuki (13,125,000 dollars) and Tsuyoshi Nishioka (5,329,000 dollars). This evidences the high hopes MLB teams have towards Kang.

“I heard the posting bid and it struck me that I am really going to the U.S. I felt like this is a beginning. I want to go to a team where I can get consistent opportunities and eliminate the prejudice that Asian infielders are not up to par," Kang said. "I want to play shortstop in the Major League but if that does not happen, I would prefer to be a third baseman than second baseman as the former is more convenient. If I play shortstop with a batting average of 0.260 or 0.270 and some 15 home runs, I believe that will be a successful first year.”

Then which team is it that would eliminate the prejudice against Asian infielders along with Kang? If the KBO delivers its intent to accept the posting bid, the MLB generally immediately discloses the team that submitted the highest bid. Yet this time, the disclosure is delayed as the bidding was made during the weekend. This has given rise to a host of speculation.

U.S. journalists are also puzzled. They are attempting to find which team it was by checking which teams had given up bidding. First, among the 30 MLB teams, they have confirmed that it is not the LA Dodgers where Ryu Hyun-jin plays, nor 14 other teams, including the San Diego Padres, which has been aggressively shopping for players. Yankees and Mets, affiliated with New York, where there is a sizable Korean population, have also withdrawn from the race.

In this process, the Philadelphia Phillies have emerged as a likely candidate. It recently traded its veteran Jimmy Rollins to Dodgers and needs a shortstop. The Boston Red Sox likewise plans to deploy Hanley Ramírez, whom it has gotten from Dodgers, in the left field, and accordingly needs a shortstop. Some say the Chicago Cubs, which have relatively abundant infield resources but this winter is shelling out the cash, is likely the one. Fox Sports columnist C.J. Nitkowski, who once played in Korean pro-baseball, said, “The $5,000,2015 posting bid on Kang feels CHC or TEX but doesn`t seem like ideal fit."

Kang said, “I don’t mind whether the team is located in the East or the West. I want to be a reliable player in the U.S. as well. Since I need time to prove myself in the beginning, it’s important that they believe in me.”