By Kang Hyun-kyung



The regular season still has over 30 games left as of Friday, depending on baseball clubs.



As the top three clubs have almost secured their presence in the post-season playoff games, mid-ranked teams — the LG Twins, the Nexen Heroes and the Lotte Giants — are locking horns to grab the remaining tickets for the games.



Amid the tough race for the pennant, word is spreading fast about the post-season free agent market even before it has begun, because of two Korean Big Leaguers who are reportedly mulling their return to the Korea Baseball Organization League.



Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Kim Hyun-soo and Hwang Jae-gyun, who signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants and had a brief taste of the Big League during the summer, are triggering some KBO clubs to speed up their efforts to sign contracts with them.



The two Big Leaguers' contracts will expire in November.



Kim initially signed a two-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles in December 2015 and was traded to the Phillies on July 31. His two seasons in the Major Leagues were not solid enough to impress his clubs.



Since he joined the Phillies, he appeared in 11 games in August and batted only .120. Kim was included in the roster for the first four games but failed to make the most of "the window of opportunity." He had only two hits out of 11 at bats.



The case for Hwang is not so different from Kim. Since he signed a one-year minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants in January, he was promoted to the Major League in late June and had his unforgettable first game on June 28. He hit his first hit in the Big League, a solo homer against the Colorado Rockies.



His excitment, however, was shortlived. Hwang, a former Lotte Giants slugger, had since struggled to adapt to the Major League games and was sent to the Triple-A team in the minor league on July 23. He was called up again six days later and had two hits out of 16 at bats in five games. He returned to the minor league.



Once the Major League regular season ends in six weeks, the two Korean-born players will become free agents and their post-season status kept Korean baseball clubs busy to sign contracts with the players.



Kim and Hwang have several options. They could stay in the Major Leagues if there are any teams interested in them and offering them attractive contracts.



They could also search for opportunities in the Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball League or in the KBO League.



Sources who are familiar with their situations said the two players are likely to come back to the KBO League. "Kim and Hwang had spent tough times there and I heard they were also homesick. They learned how hard it is to survive in the Big League and so I think they would come back to Korea once their contracts are over," a source was quoted as saying in a media interview.



Hwang met a front office official from one of the KBO clubs in June before he was called up to the Major Leagues. They reportedly had no detailed discussion about a possible contract with the KBO club but there are several clubs that are preparing various options to attract Hwang.



If their comebacks are confirmed, their U-turn would rattle the post-season free agent market. There are several players who are to become free agents after the regular season. Doosan Bears outfielder Min Byung-heon, Lotte Giants catcher Kang Min-ho and his teammate Son A-seop are some of them.



Since he joined the Bears in 2006, Min has a .300 batting average with 67 home runs and 428 RBIs. This season so far he batted .316 with 10 home runs and 55 RBIs. Giants veteran catcher Kang batted .286 with 18 home runs and 52 RBIs.



His teammate Son batted .339 with 16 homers and 60 RBIs.



