Korean phenom dubbed Ohtani clone snubs 2.26M Yankees offer, claims local media

SEOUL — The New York Yankees do not often get turned down. When the franchise opens its checkbook for a teenage prospect, the answer is almost always yes.

This time, the answer was no.

According to South Korean outlet StarNews, the Yankees offered an 18-year-old two-way phenom named Ha Hyun-seung a signing bonus of roughly 2.3 million dollars. That figure converts to about 3.4 billion Korean won. It was a historic number for a player his age. And he walked away from it.

Ha, a pitcher and hitter out of Busan High School, has been compared by Korean scouts watching the Yankees to a young Shohei Ohtani for his rare two-way skill set. The Yankees clearly believed in the comparison. The Yankees were prepared to make him one of their marquee international additions of the year. Instead, Ha chose to begin his professional career at home in the KBO League.

Why the teen turned down the Yankees

Ha announced his decision through a statement on social media on May 29. He then explained his reasoning in a phone interview with StarNews the same day. His words made clear this was not a snub of the Yankees so much as a calculated bet on his own development as a player the Yankees still coveted.

Ha was direct about who made the call and why. He framed the decision as a long-term play rather than a rejection of the major leagues.

“This was my own decision,” Ha said. “I felt I still had much to improve and needed to gain experience. I wanted to grow steadily in Korea before challenging myself in the United States.”

The young star also addressed the emotional weight of saying no to an organization as storied as the Yankees. He expressed gratitude for the interest while explaining the family conversations that shaped his choice.

“I was truly honored to receive significant interest from multiple MLB clubs,” Ha said. “It was a stage I had always dreamed of. After thorough discussions with my parents and Busan High coach Park Gye-won, I decided to begin my professional career in the KBO League.”

Ha pointed to a specific source of confidence. He has watched a wave of Korean players reach the major leagues through the posting system and succeed. That path, he believes, is now a proven route rather than a gamble.

“I saw many seniors succeeding in the first division and felt hopeful,” Ha said. “I do not think the Korean professional baseball level is low. I feel there is much to learn.”

The Yankees saw a hitter, but the mound is where he dominates

One of the most interesting details to emerge from the StarNews report concerns how the Yankees evaluated Ha. The team reportedly valued him more as a batter than as a pitcher. They offered him the chance to develop as a two-way player, terms Ha said he liked.

That Yankees evaluation runs against his statistical profile. On the mound this year, Ha was untouchable at the high school level.

Across seven games, Ha went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 23 innings. He struck out 38 hitters, walked eight, and posted a microscopic 0.65 WHIP. His fastball touched 152 kilometers per hour, roughly 94 mph, from a high release point. Scouts praised his slider as the best in Korean high school baseball, a pitch he reportedly sharpened after adjusting his mechanics last winter.

The Yankees, who held the largest international draft bonus pool this year, were not the only team in pursuit. StarNews reported that one American League West club and one National League Central club also entered the bidding. The competition was real, and the Yankees offer reflected how much the Yankees wanted him.

The Choo Shin-soo comparison and the athletic bloodlines

Ha’s profile draws another comparison closer to home. Korean observers have likened him to Choo Shin-soo, the longtime major leaguer who also attended Busan High School and was a two-way player there. At graduation, Choo was rated more highly as a pitcher before building a long MLB career as an outfielder.

Ha’s trajectory, the one the Yankees scouted closely, mirrors that arc. He gained the most attention in his third year for his pitching, even though he profiles as a hitter to some evaluators. The parallel to Choo, a Busan High legend, adds weight to the expectations now building around him.

The physical tools that drew the Yankees are not an accident. Ha inherited elite athletic genes. His father was a member of Korea’s national high jump team, and his mother was a reserve on the national long jump team. Scouts have praised his flexibility and physical condition as unusual for a player his size. During a stretch playing the outfield, his defensive instincts were strong enough to draw the Choo comparisons from international scouts.

What Ha’s decision means for the Yankees’ international plans

For the Yankees, the rejection stings in a specific way. The organization invested significant scouting resources and was willing to commit a franchise-level bonus to land him. Losing a player of Ha’s caliber to the KBO is a rare outcome for a team that usually gets its top targets.

Ha by his third year had surpassed other elite Korean prospects, including Eom Jun-sang and Kim Ji-woo, both once grouped with him in a high school Big Three. His rise put him squarely on the radar of MLB scouts, and the Yankees moved aggressively.

Ha was clear that the major leagues remain his ultimate goal. He simply wants to arrive on his own terms, through the posting system, after refining both halves of his game in Korea.

“First, I want to go to the U.S. after becoming proficient in both pitching and hitting in Korea,” Ha said. “I believe going to the U.S. through the posting system from a better environment is currently my biggest goal.”

For now, the player Korean media calls the next Ohtani will develop at home. The Yankees, and the rest of MLB, will have to wait. If Ha lives up to the comparisons, that wait could end in a bidding war far larger than the one he just turned down.

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