The contract method changed in about 10 months.
Until last January, a non-FA multi-year contract was announced 카지노사이트
but it is said that the free agent market has arrived and a free agent contract is scheduled.
There is no problem with the club, player, or KBO regulations.
However, the series of processes is very unfamiliar.
It became a multi-year contract that was only announced but never implemented.
Meanwhile, this is the story of LG Oh Ji-hwan, who appeared in the free agent market.
The KBO released a list of 19 players eligible for FA approval this winter through a press release on the 18th.
On the 15th, 34 FA-qualified players were announced, and FA applications were received from 34 players who met FA qualifications by the 17th.
And on this day, 19 free agents appearing on the market were confirmed.
18 out of 19 names were expected.
Names such as Yang Seok-hwan, who is considered the biggest player, Kim Sun-bin
Ahn Chi-hong, and Jeon Jun-woo, who are appearing on the free agent market for the second time, were listed.
Ham Deok-ju, Kim Jae-yoon, and Hong Geon-hee are considered the big three middle pitchers.
And the name of Lim Chan-gyu, the starting pitcher, was also visible.
However, an unexpected name appeared on the list. Oh Ji-hwan
who announced a non-FA multi-year contract with LG in January worth up to 12.4 billion won (10 billion won guaranteed
2.4 billion won incentive) for six years from 2024 to 2029
was included in the free agent approval list. If it was announced last January
Oh Ji-hwan would not be able to appear on the market as he had already signed a multi-year contract from 2024 to 2029.
The same goes for Koo Ja-wook, Park Jong-hoon, Moon Seung-won, Han Yu-seom, Park Se-woong, and Kim Tae-gun.
He was announced as eligible for free agency, but he cannot apply for free agency because he has already signed a multi-year contract.
Naturally, he was also excluded from the FA-approved player list.
Among the players who announced multi-year contracts, only Oh Ji-hwan was named on the list of FA-approved players.
LG general manager Cha Myeong-seok said, “I thought about the second draft.
From the time he decided to do the second draft
he decided to sign a free agent contract with Oh Ji-hwan’s side rather than a multi-year contract.
The total amount will be in line with the contract signed last winter,” he said.
Since the multi-year contract was announced last January
we have decided to sign a contract depending on the situation between a multi-year contract and a free agent contract.”
Free agents are automatically excluded from the 35-man protected player list in the second round of the draft.
LG, which has strong depth, can tie up one more player as Oh Ji-hwan becomes a free agent.
There are no administrative problems. The multi-year contract announced by LG and Oh Ji-hwan will come into effect in 2024. KBO Operations Team Leader Park Geun-chan said, “For both FA contracts and multi-year contracts, the agreed upon contract must be submitted to the KBO and approved by the president for the contract to take effect. Although LG’s multi-year contract with Oh Ji-hwan was announced, the contract was not submitted to the KBO. “It is a contract that will take effect from 2024, so the contract deadline is January 31, 2024, in line with the submission date of the pending player list.”
In other words, the contract announced last January was only announced and not implemented. The contract has not yet arrived at the KBO, and since Oh Ji-hwan has applied for free agency, the contract cannot be executed. In other words, starting on the 19th, Oh Ji-hwan will become a free agent who can sign contracts with not only the 10 KBO League teams but also overseas clubs. Multi-year contracts have become a thing of the past.
However, the promises of both LG and Oh Ji-hwan have not disappeared. Based on what Director Cha said, it can be said that the second draft during the 2023 regular season has been confirmed and that both parties have agreed to scrap the multi-year contract and convert it to a free agent contract. As the total contract size is maintained at 12.4 billion won, from Oh Ji-hwan’s perspective, there is no significant difference whether it is a multi-year contract or a free agent contract.
However, from LG’s perspective, there is a difference. Under the salary cap system, it is easier to control the size of team salary with a multi-year contract than with a free agent contract. SSG did that. We have consistently signed multi-year contracts with no down payment. Park Jong-hoon, Moon Seung-won, Han Yu-seom, and Kim Gwang-hyeon all signed multi-year contracts. And I received my salary according to the team salary situation.
Kim Gwang-hyun, who signed a four-year contract worth 15.1 billion won with SSG in March 2022, has an annual salary of 8.1 billion won for the 2022 season, the first season of his contract. The annual salary for the 2023 season is 1 billion won. SSG only needs to pay a total of 6 billion won, which is 15.1 billion won minus the 9.1 billion won paid to Kim Gwang-hyun, over the remaining two years of the contract period. In this way, multi-year contracts allow the salary to be adjusted flexibly according to the team situation. If there is an agreement with the player to pay only the full amount initially promised, there is no problem.
LG and Oh Ji-hwan sign a free agent contract, not a multi-year contract. Generally, a down payment is made according to a free agent contract. The total contract amount divided by the contract period is included in the team salary. If LG and Oh Ji-hwan signed a free agent contract with a structure worth up to KRW 12.4 billion for 6 years (KRW 4 billion in down payment, KRW 1 billion in annual salary, KRW 2.4 billion in incentives), approximately KRW 660 billion divided by the contract period of 6 years from KRW 4 billion in down payment would continue to be with the team. Included in annual salary. Of course, the annual salary and incentives paid are also included.
A down payment is not required when signing a free agent contract. If Oh Ji-hwan signs a free agent contract without a down payment, LG can set up an annual salary payment plan with a staggered structure like the multi-year contract between SSG and Kim Gwang-hyun. First of all, LG is not considering signing Oh Ji-hwan as a free agent without a down payment. General Manager Cha said, “As it is a free agent contract, I believe there will be a down payment.” He added, “I don’t think there will be a big difference due to the down payment. “I thought it was more important to tie up at least one more person in the second draft,” he said.
Other teams may be dissatisfied. The club is managed with a plan of at least 3 years or as long as 5 years. As Oh Ji-hwan’s multi-year contract with LG was announced in January last year, the national team shortstop was removed from the list of candidates for free agent recruitment this winter. Except for LG, the 9 teams would have given up on reinforcing the shortstop position this winter and made plans to strengthen their power, including recruiting free agents.
However, Oh Ji-hwan, who was thought to be absent, is in the free agent market. In addition, up to 12.4 billion won is guaranteed with LG. Since he is free, everyone can set up a negotiation table with Oh Ji-hwan. However, it is difficult for any club to suddenly prepare a large amount of money exceeding 10 billion won.
The multi-year contract that everyone thought would be implemented ended up being canceled, and a completely unexpected player appeared on the market. However, the window for this player is already closed. In fact, it is a ‘rice cake of paintings’.