Report: Yasiel Puig has no interest in playing in KBO despite teams reaching out

Yasiel Puig remains a free agent as Major League Baseball and the MLBPA try to come to an agreement for the 2020 season, but the outfielder is reportedly not entertaining the idea of playing overseas.

Puig has received interest from multiple Korean Baseball Organization teams. However, Korean sports reporter Jason Lee reported on Wednesday that the 29-year-old has “absolutely no interest” in signing with a KBO team.

[MBC Sports Plus] | Matt Harvey has been in contact with at least two KBO teams, with Boras Corp being aggressive in negotiations.

Furthermore, another KBO team reached out to Yasiel Puig recently but Puig had “absolutely no interest” in playing in Korea.#KBO pic.twitter.com/3asopN59AK

— Jason (Hanshin) Lee (@Jasons_JaysHub) June 11, 2020

Puig could have signed with an MLB team by now if he wanted, but he turned down an offer from the Miami Marlins for a very specific reason. The San Francisco Giants were also said to be open to signing Puig at one point, but that talk has cooled off over the past few months.

Puig hit .267 with 24 home runs, 84 RBI and an OPS of .785 in time split between the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians last year. While he may be overplaying his hand a bit, it would be a surprise if he can’t find an MLB team to sign him prior to the start of the season (whenever that may be).