We protect the ‘Ace’. The strategy of the clubs has changed. As multi-year contracts become the trend, the pitcher’s FA invitation is expected to become more rare.
On the 17th, NC Dinos announced the news of signing a ‘surprising’ multi-year contract with Chang-mo Koo. The conditions vary depending on when Koo Chang-mo obtained FA qualification, but up to 12.5 billion won in 6 years (including 3.5 billion won in incentives) and up to 13.2 billion won in 6+1 years (including incentives). Depending on the situation, Gu Chang-mo will play as an NC player until the 2029 season.
Quite unusual. Since last year, cases of non-FA multi-year contracts have appeared, but in the case of Gu Chang-mo, the difference is that the FA is still left for a long time. The NC club also said, “The long-term contract of a player with more than two seasons left until FA qualification is the first case in the league.” It was done,” he added in a detailed explanation. 안전놀이터 Considering the symbolism within the club that Koo Chang-mo has, the will to tie it as a long-term ‘our player’ was strongly revealed. In NC, Na Seong-beom, who was the team’s “franchise star”, left in the last two years, and even Yang Eui-ji, the key catcher who ambitiously recruited and won the first championship, returned to his home team. Since both left as free agents, their circumstances were different, but in any case, they received a lot of criticism from fans in the process. It was the reason why we couldn’t catch important players. However, as he succeeded in securing a long-term contract with Koo Chang-mo, who debuted in NC and grew into a left-handed starting pitcher representing the league,
Recently, KBO League clubs are focusing on tying up the key players of the team with long-term contracts. Last year, SSG Landers signed a multi-year contract with Moon Seung-won, Park Jong-hoon and Hanyu Island, and the Samsung Lions also signed a contract with Koo Ja-wook. In the case of the Lotte Giants, last month, they signed a multi-year contract with pitcher Park Se-woong for up to 9 billion won (including 2 billion won in incentives) for 5 years. Signing multi-year contracts with players in advance, before becoming free agents, has now become a key task for the club.
In particular, it is worth noting that there are a large number of starting resources such as Moon Seung-won, Park Jong-hoon, Park Se-woong, and Koo Chang-mo. In the free agent market, it is hard to see a big starting pitcher. Except for extremely rare pitchers who have symbolism and skill at the same time, such as Yang Hyeon-jong (KIA) or Kim Gwang-hyun (SSG), no ‘big hit’ pitchers are appearing. In the past, there are not many cases where free agent contracts for pitchers have been successful, and clubs feel the burden of recruiting starting pitchers from other teams. It is quite a contrast to the beasts actively ransoming through the transfer market.
Even pitchers who can receive offers from other teams under good conditions, such as Park Se-woong and Koo Chang-mo, are locked into multi-year contracts in advance when they qualify for free agency in the future, and the cases of pitcher FA super-hits can become rarer and rarer. It’s a time when other clubs can’t help but seriously think about the multi-year contracts that have become mainstream.