Diamondbacks Closing in on Korean Two-Way Star Junsang Eom: Is This Arizona’s Ohtani?
Every team in baseball wants a Shohei Ohtani. The Diamondbacks may have just found the closest thing on the international market.
According to Francys Romero of Beisbol FR, Arizona is in the final stages of negotiations with Korean two-way prospect Junsang Eom for the 2025-26 international signing period. The kid is 17 years old. He throws right-handed, hits right-handed, plays shortstop on his off days from the mound, and his fastball already touches 95 mph.
Romero described him as having an “advanced contact bat and elite defense for his age.” He was widely considered the No. 2 prospect in the upcoming KBO Draft before going the international free agent route. Arizona is reportedly willing to spend over $1 million to lock him up, which is significant money in the international amateur bonus pool.
Naturally, the Ohtani comparisons started immediately. They always do. Korean two-way prospect plus MLB interest equals the same conversation every time.
Let’s pump the brakes on that for a second. Ohtani is the best player on planet Earth and arguably the best baseball player who has ever lived. Comparing any 17-year-old to him is unfair to the kid and lazy analysis besides. There is a reason Ohtani took years to develop into what he is now, and he was already a fully formed professional in Japan when he made the jump.
That said, the framework is interesting. Eom is years away from the majors and will need significant development time in Arizona’s farm system. But the upside is real, and the Diamondbacks know exactly what they are doing here. This is the front office that bet big on Corbin Carroll out of nowhere and watched him become a franchise cornerstone. They have an eye for international and amateur talent.
The financial commitment also signals something about Arizona’s broader strategy. The Diamondbacks have been spending more aggressively in recent years, both at the major league level and on the international market. The Ketel Marte extension, the Carroll arrival, the willingness to chase players like Eom: this is a small-market club acting like it is operating in the middle tier of payroll, not the bottom.
Fans, predictably, lost their minds. Some posts on X just said the quiet part loud: “Got our own Ohtani lfg.” Others ran with the joke. “Temu Ohtani gonna be fire.” One fan dubbed him “Shohei O’Tiny,” which is the kind of nickname that either dies in 24 hours or sticks for a career.
The realistic timeline here is years. Eom needs to grow into his body, refine his hitting against pro pitching, decide if he is more valuable as a pitcher or position player, and clear all the hurdles that come with being a teenage two-way prospect. Most prospects who fit this profile end up choosing one path eventually.
But if even half the scouting profile holds up, Arizona just landed a cost-controlled future All-Star for the price of a middle-tier reliever. That is the kind of bet smart franchises make every winter, and the Diamondbacks have been making more of them than most.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
