SSG Landers, who unfortunately ended the season after losing to KT Wiz in the fifth-place match, declared an all-out effort to catch Choi Jeong (37), the best franchise star infielder in the club’s history.
“We have a meeting with (Choi) after the end of the season and are discussing opinions with each other,” SSG General Manager Kim Jae-hyun told News 1 on the phone on Sunday. “(Choi) Jung is our franchise star, and I have the mindset that I will catch him no matter what.”
Choi Jung-eun, who joined the SK Wyverns (currently SSG) in 2005, is Incheon baseball’s “living legend” who has played for 20 years in only one club.
He was the main player during SK’s dynasty, which began in the late 2000s, and was always an irreplaceable resource when he won his fourth championship in 2018 and his fifth in 2022. The team occupies so much that fans call it the “Choi Jeong Wyverns” and “Choi Jeong Landers.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of his professional career, but he still showed off his top-notch skills with a batting average of 0.291 with 37 homers and 107 RBIs in the 2024 season with an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 0.978. In particular, the number of homers in his career has increased to “495” beyond the 467 homers that Doosan Bears coach Lee Seung-yeop had.
He has such a great record that the achievement of 500 home runs in the KBO League is a matter of time.
Choi Jeong, who is still considered a top third baseman, will qualify as a FA at the end of the 2024 season.
Choi, who signed a four-year 8.6 billion won (8.6 million U.S. dollars) contract with SK in the first free agent after the 2014 season, had a six-year total of 10.6 billion won (approx. Choi is set to exercise his right as the third individual and the first member of SSG.
At first, Choi wanted to sign a non-FA multi-year contract. After the fan festival held in Songdo Convensia in Incheon in January, Choi told reporters, “I don’t want to care about the FA. I think a non-FA multi-year contract with SSG would be good.”
However, no news of the contract came out during the season, and he is eventually set to acquire FA qualification.
Many teams are expected to show interest when Choi Jeong, currently considered the best third baseman of the KBO and a big hitter, comes to the FA market. Choi Jeong, who has already passed two FA, is classified as a C grade (150% of the previous year’s annual salary for FA compensation), which does not require giving up compensation players in the FA rating system, which makes it more attractive for other teams. 안전놀이터
Rumors have emerged that multiple clubs have already prepared a large amount of money for Choi Jung.
SSG is also well aware of this atmosphere. The team plans to engage in negotiations taking into account not only the market’s high evaluation of Choi Jeong but also the fact that Choi is loved by fans indefinitely. The team is committed to never putting the negotiations on the market by concluding the negotiations as early as possible.
“I’m trying to save my words because what came out of the club could be misunderstood as ‘media play’, but I’m not at the stage where I can say something clearly at the moment, but I’m trying to exchange as positively as possible,” general manager Kim said. “(Choi) Jung and Jung are all acquaintances of the agents, so we are exchanging opinions.”
There is no doubt about Choi’s performance. However, he and his team may have different opinions over the duration of his contract at a considerable age.
Director Kim explained, “Of course, I think the contract period should be guaranteed for four years.”
“Our position remains the same. However, we are watching (the negotiation process) as there are certain lines (in terms of the contract),” he added.
