“We’d like to see progress by the end of the year,” sighed club officials, but the clock ticked. Another year passed.
A new year dawned in 2024. The KBO, which was in “rest mode” for the holidays, is now in full swing with preparations for the new season. By early January, most teams will be back in full swing. Of course, core tasks such as negotiating free agent contracts, negotiating salary re-signings, and organizing rosters did not stop at the end of the year. However, many free agents still entered the new year without finalized contracts.
As of December 31, only nine of the 19 free agents had officially signed contracts. Over half of the players are categorized as unsigned.
As expected, most of the “big fish” are signed.
Yang Seok-hwan, who remained with the Doosan Bears, signed a 4+2 year deal worth up to 7.8 billion won ($7.8 million), the highest total in this year’s Stobrig. Ahn Chi-hong, who moved to the Hanwha Eagles, followed with a 4+2-year deal worth up to 7.2 billion won. Im Chan-kyu stayed with his original team, the LG Twins, for a four-year, 5 billion won maximum and Ham Deok-ju for a four-year, 3.8 billion won maximum. Kim Jae-yoon agreed to a four-year, $5.8 billion deal to join the Samsung Lions. Jeon Jun-woo remained with the Lotte Giants for up to 4.7 billion won over four years.
Jang Min-jae remained with the Hanwha Eagles (2+1 years, up to 800 million won), and Ko Jong-wook stayed with the KIA Tigers for two years, up to 500 million won.
The players who finished their contracts are now free to start preparing for the new season.
However, the players and clubs who have not yet signed contracts have one month left before they depart for spring training.
Clubs still in free agency negotiations have made it a priority to “get it done by the end of the year,” especially if the players want to stay. Both players and clubs want to come to an agreement and announce a deal in December. The timing of December and January has a different weight when it comes to free agency. January is the time when players start to get in shape and prepare for camps, so the longer a contract is delayed, the more the player loses. Clubs also have the added variable of having to start camp without a fully organized team.
For the players who have yet to sign, negotiations with their original clubs have been stalled.
One of the biggest topics of discussion on Stovrig these days is the need to avoid publicly saying anything provocative about each other. Both clubs and players are cautious. 카지노사이트 It’s not uncommon for an emotional battle to backfire. In fact, even when a player’s agent makes excessive demands that are out of line with the market, clubs will often comment publicly that they are “trying to work things out”. This creates an atmosphere of mutual caution.
But there’s no denying that it’s an impasse.
There are only one or two players left on the market who are likely to leave. The market is stacked against the unsigned players, as most clubs are reluctant to add outside free agents.
It’s now a tug of war and a battle of egos. Players want to be treated “fairly,” and while merit and performance can’t be ignored, the contracts of other players who have performed similarly can be used as a benchmark. However, clubs are reluctant to pay more than their internal valuation in the absence of competition.
This is where the tug-of-war comes in, and where true negotiation skills come into play, as clubs try to convince players that the “right deal” is the right deal. At the rate things are going, it’s possible that there could be some missing players who won’t be able to reach a final agreement until after spring training.