Choi Jeong (37), the free agent of this season, has announced his contract with the SSG Landers. If things go as planned, Choi Jung will become a legend of Incheon baseball and a one-club man who connects the Wyverns and the Landers.
Since debuting with the SK Wyverns in 2005, Choi has already reached his late 30s, but his performance is still strong. He propped up SSG’s batters with 0.291 37 homers and 107 RBIs in 129 games this season. He also played his part in defense against the third base. As a result, Choi’s future as an FA player was a matter of interest to all teams.
In particular, Choi Jeong, who received his third FA, is classified as a “C-grade,” and when transferring to another team, only compensation is incurred without compensation players. With such merit, several clubs showed interest.
However, even before the start of this season, Choi Jung sent SSG a love call for renewing his contract, saying he wanted a “non-FA multi-year contract.” SSG also wants to keep Choi Jung somehow. Not only does Choi, who stuck to the “one team,” have no resources to replace Choi in terms of skills and symbolism in his team.
SSG reportedly offered a four-year, 10 billion won deal early on. However, baseball speculation poured in as no definitive news regarding the contract was made until the KBO made public the list of 30 free agents including Choi Jeong after the end of the season. 토토사이트
Some clubs, which lack third baseman resources, are entering the FA market with all-out efforts to catch Choi Jung.
On the 4th, two days before the opening of the FA market, SSG’s working-level officials met Choi Jung again. It was a positive trend, but it was impossible to predict what would happen if there was a disagreement until the end. In particular, in the case of last season, Kim Kang-min, the spiritual leader of SSG, moved to Hanwha Eagles, so he could not relax until the end.
Against this backdrop, SSG said around 3 p.m., “Players wanted to proceed with the FA contract. We will announce the contract after signing on the 6th when the FA market opens.”
Prior to the contract, there were many cases where a star’s contract representing a club was mentioned, but it was unprecedented for a player to announce a reservation like this. The player’s response was not much different.
Some say that Choi Jung may change his mind as of the 6th, when love calls will pour out to other clubs. However, Choi Jung’s chances of turning his back on the club are very slim, considering the progress so far and the player’s reaction.
According to News 1, A, who has worked as a front desk in the baseball team for a long time, said, “Choi Jung-eun seems to want to receive a down payment within the FA system rather than trying to go to another team,” adding, “The fact that SSG announced that much can be seen as an agreement on all conditions has already been reached.”
He added, “There is little room for other clubs to intervene in the situation where the club and the players have ‘pre-announced’ the contract together. With Choi Jung accepting most of the conditions offered by SSG, there seems to be no possibility that he will turn to other clubs.”
