How rule will prevent Korean teammates from coming to MLB together

The problem: Korean Baseball Organization rules prevent a team from accepting bids on two players in the same season through the posting system, the official conduit that sends Koreans under contract to Major League Baseball.

Not only does Lotte’s conundrum illustrate how much more risk teams are willing to take on Korean players, it brings drama to the posting of Son, on whom final bids are due Friday.

If Lotte accepts the highest bid for Son it is not expected to reach anything near the $12.85 million the Minnesota Twins paid earlier this month for slugger Byung-ho Park then the team runs the risk of losing Hwang without a posting fee next season, when he qualifies for free agency.

Son is not a free agent until after the 2017 season, and Lotte would maximize its earnings by turning down the bid for him and posting Hwang instead.

At the same time, there’s a perception among sources familiar with Korean baseball that Lotte’s mistreatment of Son during his father’s passing could put pressure on the team to accept the posting bid and not even take one on Hwang.