The Minnesota Twins placed the winning bid to negotiate a Major League Baseball deal with South Korean slugger Park Byung-Ho, the club and MLB said.

The Twins have 30 days to reach a deal with the first-baseman after paying a reported $12.85 million for the right to negotiate with the 29-year-old who hit 53 home runs and 146 runs-batted-in in 140 games for the Korean Baseball Organization's Nexen Heroes this year.

The Twins did not confirm the bid amount, only acknowledging on Monday they won the bidding. They said they wouldn't comment further out of respect for Park and Nexen.

If Park and the Twins don't agree on a contract, Nexen won't receive the posting fee.

Park has played in the KBO for a decade and emerged as a star over the past four seasons. He hit a combined 105 homers in the past two and drove in at least 100 runs in each of the last four campaigns.
Source: AFP