The KIA Tigers will appoint a compensation player for Jang Hyun-sik, a pitcher who moved to the FA. Considering the depth of the LG Twins’ mound, there is also a direction to immediately bring in a pitcher with full power to fill part of Jang’s vacancy. Attention is focusing on whether it will lead to internal FA negotiations after the nomination of a compensation player.
KIA has entered the stove league to prepare for the 2025 season after achieving the combined championship in the 2024 season. There were a total of three internal FA players. Pitchers Jang Hyun-sik and Lim Ki-young, and infielder Seo Geon-chang have applied for FA status.
Kia focused first on staying with Jang, a key resource in the bullpen. In 75 games (75.1 innings) in the 2024 season, Jang faithfully played the role of a key player in the team with five wins, four losses and 16 holds, 3.94 ERA with 75 strikeouts, 34 walks, and WHIP 1.45.
Jang received better terms from other teams in addition to the offers he received from the KIA team in the early days of the FA market. LG was the final winner of Jang’s scramble. Other clubs, actively seeking to recruit Jang, also offered attractive offers, but they could not overcome the full guarantee contract that the LG team offered. In the end, the LG club officially announced on the 11th that it had signed a four-year contract with Jang Hyun-sik for a total of W5.2 billion (a down payment of W1.6 billion, an annual salary of W3.6 billion).
The terms offered by the KIA team did not differ significantly in total amount compared to the terms of the LG team’s contract, but Jang Hyun-sik’s destination was determined by the difference in the availability of options. The KIA team did not get dragged around by the FA market and kept to the end the contract offer amount set internally.
An official from KIA said after the announcement of Jang Hyun-sik’s transfer contract, “We presented the conditions to the best extent that our club could. There was not an absurdly big difference in the total amount. However, since there was some weight of options, I would have chosen the conditions of other clubs that guaranteed the total amount,” and added, “I’m disappointed in the fact that I couldn’t maintain my power after winning, but I respect the choice of the player who has devoted himself to the team.” 메이저사이트
Now, Kia can seek to beef up its capabilities by naming Jang Hyun-sik as a compensation player. According to the Korea Baseball Organization’s FA rating system, players who recruit players from other teams must compensate their original teams. A team that recruits an A-rated player must compensate 200 percent of its 2024 salary and one player other than 20 protected players, or 300 percent of its 2024 salary, while a team that owns a B-rated player must pay 100 percent of its 2024 salary and one other player other than 25 protected players, or 200 percent of its 2024 salary. For a C-rated player, the team only needs to pay 150 percent of its 2024 salary to the original team without compensation players.
Teams that recruit FA players from other teams must give their names to all teams within three days from the announcement of their contract approval. The original team must nominate compensation players within three days after receiving the list of protected players.
While Jang Hyun-sik’s FA contract was announced on the 13th, the LG club handed over the 25-member protective list to KIA on the 16th. As Jang Hyun-sik has left the team, it seems that they have no choice but to keep an eye on LG’s pitching resources. KIA is a team that should run Win Now for the throne Mercury in the 2025 season. It is true that it is attractive to minimize the outflow of the bullpen by nominating an immediate power pitcher as a compensation player.
As LG also has good pitching and batting depth, it seems that it was difficult for the team to focus solely on pitchers. If the team is an instantaneous power pitcher with experience in the first division, Kia has no reason to refuse. Kia plans to announce the result of careful consideration for three days on Wednesday as the nomination of a compensation player.
Attention is also focusing on the nomination of compensation players and negotiations to remain as internal FA. KIA should continue negotiations with its remaining internal FA resources such as pitcher Lim Ki-young and infielder Seo Geon-chang. Of course, Kia does not seem to have set up a negotiation table in an active manner. For one, Kia aims to keep an eye on the situation in the FA market. “I don’t think our team needs to hurry. As we are out to find out the market value, we plan to move while watching the situation in the future,” a Kia official said.
