“Oh my God, this FA contract again…” 8.8 billion won for two people, but 50% is guaranteed X…

General Manager Cha Myung-seok, the negotiation king, said, “What did I do, I’m grateful to the players who signed.” Ham Deok-ju (28), who played as a key bullpen for the LG Twins in the 2023 season, will stay with the LG Twins. What stands out again in this contract is the option, which is nearly half of the total contract size. Regarding this, Cha Myung-seok, LG’s general manager, said, “If we do as much as we have done, we can get everything.”

The LG Twins officially announced on the 24th, “We signed a four-year contract with free agent (FA) Ham Deok-joo for a total of 3.8 billion won (600 million won in down payment, 1.4 billion won in annual salary, and 1.8 billion won in incentives).”

After finishing the contract, Ham said through his club, “I feel lighthearted because I was able to finish the contract before the end of the year. The team showed the best performance this season. I’m also happy that I was able to help the team a little bit by throwing without injury. I felt happy that I was able to throw healthy once again. I will do my best to help the team continue to be a strong team by not getting sick.” 메이저사이트

“Ham is a pitcher with many experiences including his national team career. In the 2023 season, he regained his health and showed the best performance. He also played his part in the team’s winning team. I look forward to seeing him throw healthily on the mound for the team in the future,” the LG Twins club said, explaining the background of the FA contract.

After graduating from Ilsan Elementary School, Wonju Middle School, and Wonju High School, Ham Deok-ju was ranked 43rd overall in the fifth round of the 2013 Rookie Draft. Starting in the 2015 season, Ham played 68 games (7 wins, 2 losses, 2 saves, 16 holds, ERA of 3.65), making a leap forward to become a starting member of the main league. Since then, Ham has worked as a starting pitcher and a bullpen pitcher, helping Doosan build its dynasty. It was in March ahead of the 2021 season that Ham brought about a major change. At the time, LG made a 2:2 trade by sending infielder Yang Seok-hwan and pitcher Namho to Doosan, instead of receiving Ham Deok-ju and right-handed pitcher Chae Ji-seon from Doosan, the next door.

After undergoing surgery to remove bone fragments from his elbow at the end of the 2021 season, Ham remained almost committed to rehabilitation last year. He also had his best season of the year. He had four wins, no losses, and 16 holds an ERA of 1.62. He recorded 32 hits (one homer) with 22 walks, 59 strikeouts, 12 runs (ten earned) and WHIP (per earned run per inning) with a batting average of 0.97 and a batting average of 0.165. Above all, Lee Jung-yong, Jung Woo-young, and Ko Woo-seok, who had already won LG’s victory group at the beginning of the season, were shaken by injuries and sluggishness. He left the team due to elbow injury at the end of the season, but made the Korean Series entry and shared the honor of winning the title. Ham Deok-ju, who personally won the Korean Series for the fourth time after 2015, 2016, and 2019 when he played for Doosan, was the winner.

Ham Deok-joo, who was thrilled to win the Korean Series, recently had a double celebration. Recently, the Major League Baseball (MLB) secretariat has asked for an identification inquiry about Ham. Since he had never expressed his intention to enter the Major League, it was a surprise identification inquiry. Even if Major League Baseball’s identification request inquiry meant simply official identification, such interest could certainly be a boon to the FA contract. Ham then married his bride, Joeyan, on the 9th, joining the ranks of sold-out men. Ham Deok-joo, who has one daughter, said through his club, “I registered my marriage in December last year, but thinking that I am having a wedding gives me a greater sense of responsibility. I will exercise harder and show good performances to my family and fans as I feel a sense of responsibility.” Ham arrived in Korea on the 20th after a honeymoon in Hawaii, and officially announced his contract four days after returning home.

LG officially announced on the 21st that it has signed an FA contract with Lim Chan-gyu, the star of the franchise within the team. At the time, the LG Twins said, “We signed a four-year contract with Lim Chan-gyu for a total of 5 billion won (KRW 600 million in down payment, KRW 2 billion in annual salary, and KRW 2.4 billion in incentives).” Lim Chan-gyu, who joined LG in 2011 as the second overall pick in the second round of the first round, is a franchise star of the LG Twins. Lim Chan-gyu won 10 games again in the 2020 season after winning 11 games in the 2018 season. However, in the 2022 season, he did not have a satisfactory performance as he recorded 6-11 losses and a 5.04 ERA. Lim Chan-gyu became an FA in November last year. However, he chose to re-do the FA without exercising his sacred rights. Although there were individual sluggishness, he also had a lot of self-imposed feelings that he did not help his team much as a franchise star who joined the LG Twins in 2011.

After signing the contract, Lim said through his club, “As a former LG Twins player, I am happy that Elin is able to continue wearing the uniform that he is proud of. I didn’t think about other clubs. I wanted to continue to be a member of the LG Twins. Thank you to the club for your good contract.” “Thanks to the fans who always support me passionately, I think I was able to produce the best results of this season. I was able to feel the power of our fans once again. I will prepare to produce good results next year and the year after so that fans can always smile.” The LG club also said, “Lim Chan-gyu is an essential player as a representing the team. He led the younger members of the team well through positive influences, and played a big role in the team’s integrated victory. In particular, this season marked career highs, raising expectations for the next season. He will lead not only his performance but also the team in a good direction.”

There is something in common between Ham Deok-ju and Lim Chan-gyu’s contracts. In other words, nearly half of the total contract amount is filled with options. Lim Chan-gyu is guaranteed only 2.6 billion won out of the total 5 billion won. In addition, Ham Deok-ju is definitely receiving 2 billion won out of the total 3.8 billion won. Combined together, only 4.6 billion won out of 8.8 billion won is guaranteed, with almost half of the options reaching 4.2 billion won (47.7%. An option is literally not a guaranteed amount. The amount is the amount that a player needs to perform more as much as the conditions on which the option is up for grabs. In a way, it is a safety device that can prevent ‘eat and run’ from the club’s point of view. In the past, regardless of the player’s future performance, based on his previous performance or by trusting only his name value, he gave a large amount of money. However, the atmosphere of the KBO league is changing now. Of course, it still varies from player to player, but they are making future-oriented contracts while betting large options.

After the announcement of the contract, Cha said in a telephone interview with Star News on Monday, “If you perform as much as you did before, you will receive everything.” Fans are praising Cha as the king of negotiations over the contract between Ham and Lim Chan-kyu. The deal is not unconditionally an overpaying contract, but rather a contract in which players are paid reasonably depending on their performance in the future. “Oh, what did I do? All the players signed the contract with us, and I’m grateful that they stayed with us. They agreed on it. So I’m grateful. We talked to each other and matched the amount well,” Cha said.

When asked about options for the FA contract with Lim Chan-kyu earlier, Cha praised Lim, saying, “If I do as much as this season, I will get everything. I won 14 games this year, the most as a native pitcher, and I think I have achieved something really difficult.” Cha then said, “Both our club and Lim Chan-kyu seem to be satisfied. We did our best, and Lim Chan-kyu got what they wanted,” and added, “Im Chan-kyu has expressed his wish to increase the total size of the FA contract. We thought that there should be a safety device, so we signed a contract with options of this size.” As such, both LG and Lim Chan-kyu were evaluated as ‘win-win’ contracts. LG guaranteed Lim a considerable amount of money and firmly established the pride of the franchise star. At the same time, including a large amount of options in the contract gave the players the motivation to play harder. Of course, the best scenario for both Lim Chan-kyu and Ham Deok-joo is to perform their best side by side, helping not only the players themselves but also the team perform well.

While stamping his seal with Ham, LG finalized all contracts with three of its four internal FA players this year. Following Lim Chan-gyu, Oh Ji-hwan was the main character. The LG Twins officially announced, “On the 19th, we signed a six-year FA contract with Oh Ji-hwan for a total of 12.4 billion won (KRW 5 billion in down payment, KRW 5 billion in annual salary, KRW 2.4 billion in incentives).” In fact, on Jan. 19, LG officially announced that it had agreed to a multi-year contract for the first time with Oh on the same terms as him. And in fact, he signed an FA contract with Oh.

After joining the LG Twins in 2009, Oh Ji-hwan played in 1,750 games during the 15 seasons, posting a batting average of 0.265, 1579 hits, 154 homers, 256 steals, and 807 RBIs. Notably, he was the captain of the team and the leading player in the 2023 season. He became the first Korean Series postseason to receive the honor of being named the MVP of the Korean Series by hitting three consecutive home runs. He has won the Golden Glove Award for the second consecutive year following 2022. After finishing his contract, Oh said, “I am grateful to the club for offering me the opportunity to sign on good terms. Above all, I am happy to remain a LG Twins player until the end. Through everyone’s efforts and fans’ passionate support, the team won the championship in unification this year, and I will continue to win many championships to bring joy to fans.” The LG Twins club said, “I am happy to finish the FA contract well, and I thank Oh Ji-hwan. Oh Ji-hwan is a shortstop representing the KBO. He is also the captain of the team and a franchise player for the LG Twins, who led this year’s players well and played a big role in the team’s unification victory. As the team has performed well this year, I have high expectations on Oh and I think he will lead the team well.”

“I want to give some good news to LG fans as I finished my contract before Christmas, but I don’t think it will be easy for all three of them to finish my contract within Christmas,” said Cha Myung-seok, LG’s general manager, through YouTube Live, this year’s last club. However, following Lim Chan-gyu and Oh Ji-hwan, he showed fast-track performance by completing his contract with Ham Deok-ju. Now, he is only leaving a contract with Kim Min-seong, the “internal FA” who showed the same performance this year. Kim Min-seong played 112 games this season, recording a batting average of 0.249 (68 hits in 273 times at bat), eight homers, 41 RBIs and 34 runs scored, 25 walks and 58 strikeouts with two steals, 0.377 in slugging percentage, 0.326 in on-base percentage, and 0.703 in OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). “We are continuing our negotiations. We have presented our proposal and are waiting for an answer,” Cha said.