The clubs’ courtship of catchers is quite different from a year ago. It has been almost two months since the FA market opened, but no catcher has signed. The popularity of catchers, which was gold, has waned.
After the end of the 2022 season, there was a frenzy in which teams tried to catch their home turf. Four FA catchers – Yang Eui-ji (NC → Doosan, 4+2 year 15.2 billion won), Yoo Gangnam (LG → Lotte, 8 billion won for 4 years), Park Dong-won (KIA → LG, 6.5 billion won for 4 years), and Park Se-hyuk (Doosan → NC, 4.6 billion won for 4 years) – were treated like “billion won.” Their total contract alone amounted to 34.3 billion won.
Negotiations were also very fast. Just a week after the opening of the FA market, the contracts of the four FA catchers ended. 메이저 토토사이트
However, catcher negotiations have been slow in this Stove League. Lee Ji-young (former Kiwoom), who participated in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and Kim Min-sik (former SSG), who helped him win the 2022 World Baseball Classic by combining wires and wires for the first time, have applied for FA applications, but their whereabouts have yet to be determined.
Both of them are catchers with proven skills and skills who have played in the KBO league for a long time. Nevertheless, the competition for recruitment of them is not hot at all.
The biggest reason is that no club needs a catcher right now. LG, Doosan, Lotte, and NC hired an FA catcher after the 2022 season, while KIA, which needed a catcher due to loss of Park Dong-won, signed a non-FA contract with Kim Tae-gun, which it acquired through a trade in July last year, for a three-year contract of 2.5 billion won. KT, Samsung, and Hanwha also captured an internal FA catcher after the 2021 season.
While each team cares about the growth of young catchers, Doosan and SSG succeeded in recruiting backup catchers through the second draft in November last year.
As market demand declined, it became difficult for FA catchers to speak out. Currently, the club is in control of the knife.
On top of that, due to salary cap, each club has limited investment to spend. FA catchers are not getting the same harsh treatment as they did a year ago.
According to the Korea Baseball Organization’s announcement on July 20, no club has exceeded the salary cap limit of 11.426 billion won (14.23 million U.S. dollars) in total annual salary of the top 40 players for 2023. However, Doosan, SSG, LG, Lotte, and Samsung are close to the salary cap limit, and they have no room to spare.
If you exceed the salary cap once, you have to pay 50% of the excess as a sanction. If it exceeds two consecutive times, 100% of the excess will be paid as a sanction, and the right to nominate a rookie in the first round next year will fall by nine places. Each club has no choice but to pay attention to managing its salary cap.
The spring camp, which is preparing in earnest for the 2024 season, will begin next month. FA catchers, who have narrowed their options, have to find their destination within three weeks. Still, there is a possibility that the worst situation where they cannot find their team can be avoided.
First of all, Kim Min-sik is continuing tug-of-war negotiations with SSG, the original club, over staying. There is a consensus, with both sides wanting each other.
However, they are confronting each other tightly over the terms of the contract. With disagreements rarely narrowing, SSG made a final proposal to Kim Min-sik on the 8th. Now it is up to Kim Min-sik to choose.
Lee is more complicated. Last year, he slowed down due to injury and sluggishness, and rookie Kim Dong-heon grew fast, shrinking his foothold in Kiwoom.
He is also burdened by the fact that he was born in 1986 and is now in his late 30s. Kiwoom signed veteran FA such as Won Jong-hyun and Lee Hyung-jong from the Stove League a year ago, but the result of the first season failed. Kiwoom has no choice but to show passive attitude in negotiating with veterans.
It is also difficult for other teams to recruit Lee Ji-young, who is classified as FAB. To sign Lee, the original club Kiwoom must be compensated with 100% of the previous year’s salary and one player other than 25 protected players, or 200% of the previous year’s salary. Lee’s annual salary for the 2023 season was 500 million won.
If this condition is eased, there is room for change. Lee Ji-young is also showing her willingness to break the situation by contacting Kiwoom recently.
Kiwoom may take a step back due to compensation decisions and sign-and-trade that do not receive protective players on a grand scale, but a club official declined to comment on this.