Red Sox Make Rare International High School Prospect Signing

The Boston Red Sox took advantage of their Monday off, making a rare signing of a Korean high school pitcher.

Boston inked right-handed pitching prospect Chansol Lee to a minor league contract Monday, according to Major League Baseball’s official transaction log. Lee, 18, was expected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming KBO League draft but will forego his eligibility overseas to join the Red Sox.

Baseball Korea, a highly-respected publication in Lee’s home country, shared the following about his signing.

I know that Boston highly evaluated Lee Chan-sol’s growth potential. Also, Seoul High School recently gave a high score to the fact that the training system is comparable to that of the United States. The club made an offer with confidence that he would grow into a top-notch big league player.

Lee joins a growing list of Korean players to sign directly with an MLB organization out of high school, including Ji-hwan Bae, Shin Soo Choo, Chan Ho Park and Ji-man Choi. The rarity of the signing comes from the fact that the KBO has a rule where any player who skips the draft to sign with an MLB organization isn’t allowed to play in the KBO until two years after they were released by an MLB team.

That leads to a smaller amount of players taking that route, with only those believing they can rise quickly through a farm system making the move.

The Red Sox have also been busy signing their 2023 MLB Draft picks, inking 18 of 22 players selected. You can check out Boston’s full list of selections here.