The year-old free agency market was busy in its first week.
After a tug-of-war with the KIA Tigers, infielder Kim Sun-bin, 35, chose to stay. Kim signed a three-year, 3 billion won contract (600 million won down payment, 1.8 million won annual salary, and 600 million won option) with KIA on Thursday. Kim, who joined the team in 2008 and became its first free agent in 2020, signed a four-year contract totaling 4 billion won and played until last year, will play in a KIA uniform for three more years.
Pitcher Lim Chang-min (39), who played for the Kiwoom Heroes last year, switched to the Samsung Lions for a two-year contract totaling 800 million won. Samsung, which acquired Im, who earned $100 million in salary last year as a C-grade pitcher, 토토사이트 chose to strengthen its mound by paying Kiwoom $150 million in compensation.
There are now eight unsigned free agents:
Joo Kwon (29), Hong Gun-hee (32-plus A), Kim Min-sung (36), Lee Ji-young (38-plus B), Kim Min-sik (35), Oh Seung-hwan (42), Kim Dae-woo (36), and Kang Kang-ul (33-plus C). All of them have not made much progress since their free agency announcements, and it has been cautiously speculated that this could be a long process. With no answers so far, this prospect seems to be becoming a reality.
KT lost its closer until last year, Kim Jae-yoon, to Samsung, making the need for a set-up man to support new closer Park Young-hyun even more important. Joo, who is entering his first season back from injury, was expected to play a role. However, both Ju and KT have been unable to resolve their differences. Both sides seem to have reached a consensus on the deal, but they need to close the price gap first.
The same goes for Hong Gun-hee. While he is still considered a competitive bullpen option, he is a Class A player with a hefty compensation package and is not expected to move much. With the original team Doosan unable to offer a so-called “jackpot deal” due to salary cap issues, the key will be to see what kind of decision Hong will make. As with sovereignty, the long game is inevitable.
Kim Min-seong is a resource that could draw interest from teams in need of third base reinforcements.
It was also noteworthy that he performed well for the LG Twins last year. His salary of 180 million won ($180,000,000) last year was also cited as an appealing factor, but compensation and his age, which is in his late 30s, are likely to be obstacles. Catchers Lee Ji-young and Kim Min-sik are also classified as one of the resources that are still needed by the original team Kiwoom and SSG, but they have not been able to make a breakthrough in negotiations.
Samsung, which is negotiating with Oh Seung-hwan and Kim Dae-woo, is the team with the biggest headache. They tried to bolster their mound with the acquisition of Kim Jae-yoon and Lim Chang-min in the external free agent market. However, no deals have been finalized with internal resources. In particular, they are struggling to resolve the contract of Oh Seung-hwan, a living legend and a symbol of the team. Kim Dae-woo and Kang Kang-ul are also at an impasse. 사설 토토사이트 With no significant external movements toward them, interest is growing in how this story will end.