When will the final destination of Choi Won-tae (27), a free agent, be decided.
Choi and Eom Sang-baek (28) were considered the biggest fish among FA pitchers this winter. Eom signed a four-year contract worth up to 7.8 billion won (including 1.15 billion won in options) with the Hanwha Eagles, which exceeded expectations. Infielder Shim Woo-joon signed a four-year contract worth up to 5 billion won with the Hanwha Eagles. Pitchers Kim Won-joong (up to 5.4 billion won for four years) and Koo Seung-min (up to 2.1 billion won for two years plus two years) chose to stay with the Lotte Giants. Major free agents visited the team early on.
As for Choi, there is no news to be desired. As a young starting pitcher in his 20s, he has displayed consistent pitching performance over 100 innings for the past eight consecutive years. However, his performance over the past year and four months after moving to LG did not meet expectations. He showed lackluster performance not only in the regular season but also in the post season. As he is rated an FA A, he also faces high entry barriers for other teams. For a Grade A player, 200 percent of the previous year’s salary, 20 protected players, and one other player, or 300 percent of the previous year’s salary must be given to the original team. 온라인카지노
LG’s original fastball team is also passive. On the 12th, Cha Myung-seok, LG’s general manager, met Choi Won-tae only once.
LG has filled four starting pitchers for next year, including two foreign pitchers and Lim Chan-kyu and Son Joo-young. Even if Choi Won-tae leaves, he can hire a promising player for the remaining position. Jang’s recruitment also increased the burden of salary cap (competitive balance tax). LG, which is highly likely to exceed the salary cap this season, says it will never pass the cap next season. If the player exceeds the cap twice, he or she will be given penalty (100% of the excess) as well as disadvantage in the rookie draft.
The external environment surrounding Choi is also not very good. Officials from provincial A team and metropolitan area B and C team all shook their heads as rumors spread that Choi would be recruited.
“I am not interested in recruiting Choi. I have never considered it,” said an official from the A team. “B also has no financial resources to bring in Choi (due to salary cap). Wouldn’t a player want at least 5 billion won to 6 billion won? Even if he can afford it, he doesn’t seem attractive given his pitching style and pitching capability.” A source from the C team also said, “I don’t know why our team keeps mentioning it. I have never contacted Choi until now. I don’t know what will happen if he loses his physical value, but I am not considering it for now.”
At present, it is not easy to obtain the expected ransom even if it reaches an FA contract.
There are variables, too. Recently, provincial D teams are constantly being linked to Choi. “If a team has secured funding for FA recruitment through its parent group, I don’t know if it has any chance. We can jump into the recruitment race suddenly because we don’t have much income in the FA market or we really need Choi,” a source from Team B said. “If not, I think it will take some time (for the contract).”
