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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Pittsburgh Pirates have won the bidding to negotiate a contract with Korean shortstop Jung-Ho Kang, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Pirates reportedly won with a bid of more than $5 million for Kang, who is the first Korean position player ever to be posted. The Pirates will now have 30 days to agree to a contract or he will return to the Nexen Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization. If the Pirates do not sign him, they will not have to pay the $5 million fee.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kang, 27, has played nine seasons in the KBO and has a career .298 batting average with 139 home runs and 545 RBIs. He hit 40 home runs in 2014 while driving in 117 runs with a .356 batting average.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;CORCORAN: Padres continue wild overhaul&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Two years ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers bid nearly $26 million to negotiate with pitcher&amp;nbsp;Hyun-Jin Ryu, the most ever for a Korean player.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Jordy Mercer started at shortstop last season for the Pirates. In 149 games, he batted .255 with 12 home runs and 55 RBIs.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Pirates finished second in the NL Central last season with an 88-74 record. They lost to the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wild Card game.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;Free agent tracker: Keep up to date with the latest moves&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;- Paul Palladino&lt;/em&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/12/22/pittsburgh-pirates-win-bidding-korean-jung-ho-kang>