The Story of Lee Seung-Yuop 

I prefer the way it was originally spelled Lee Seung-yeop

Lee, Ee,Yi or Rhee. it's all same and doesn't matter how you pronounce.

Some MLB teams were interested in him around 2006 but he decided to stay with Yomiuri

i could be wrong but i think his agent tried to put in a clause in his contract that he could not be demoted to Triple-A and MLB teams couldn't come to an agreement. I recall the Yankees for sure were interested in signing him after the 2006 World Baseball Classic and i think there was another team but i don't remember

Lee was always strongly motivated to play in the big league. After 2003 season, when he became free agent for the first time, Dodgers were highly interested in him, but as Rupert Murdoch had decided to sell the team just at that point, they were financially struggling and couldn't approach Lee aggressively and ended up making offers that disappointed Lee, which led him to play in NPB. After 2006 season, a number of teams including Yankees were strongly interested in him after his superior performance in WBC and NPB, but Lee decided to stay with Yomiuri Giants. Giants had done very poorly that season despite Lee's great records, and strongly requested that Lee stays. For Lee's part, he had been disappointed by how Chiba Lotte Marines treated him in 2004~2005 seasons, and felt indebted to Yomiuri Giants for giving him opportunities. He ended up saying it would be him taking advantage of the Yomiuri if he headed for the big league after just one year of playing, despite the team's difficult situation.

In 2003, he did get offers and he would have made the MLB, but he wanted guaranteed pay and opted to go to NPB because he was guaranteed money and a starting role. If he had gone to MLB, he would have been a good solid player. It was a different time even 20 Years ago. But, that's about to change. Lee Jung Hoo, of the Kiwoom Heroes, will be posted by the KBO to MLB teams.

No White Sox