Hanwha, With 2.8 Billion Won in Salary Cap

The wild stove league of the Hanwha Eagles is coming to an end. A busy month has continued from free agents to foreign players and the second draft. The team also followed the salary cap relatively leisurely. Now, it has only two steps left.

Hanwha Eagles signed a contract with free agent pitcher Jang Min-jae on the 21st for a total of 800 million won 2 years guaranteed 400 million won, option 100 million won, annual salary of 200 million won for the next year, option 100 million won.

Hanwha, which recruited infielder An Chi-hong for a total of 7.2 billion won for 4+2 years as soon as the FA market opened last month, seems to be taking a step back from the FA market by catching internal FA Jang Min-jae.

Hanwha General Manager Son Hyuk said in a phone call with Star News on the 21st, “We are now thinking of taking a step back and watching.”

Hanwha filled 8.53 billion won out of the upper limit of 11.4 billion won to 263.8 billion won from the total amount of the top 40 annual salaries for each club announced by KBO on the 20th. There was 2.895.38 billion won to spare.

That’s why Ahn was able to proactively approach Ahn as soon as the market opened. In the second draft, he beefed up three players including Kim Kang-min and renewed contracts with new foreign hitter Jonathan Peraza and former ace Felix Peña, spending a hectic offseason.

Hanwha remained at the bottom for three consecutive years until last year, but had to settle for falling out of last place by ranking ninth this season.

Nevertheless, there have been considerable harvests. The team significantly increased its winning rate from 0.324 to 0.420, and young players, including Moon Dong-ju and Noh Si-hwan, were at the center of the growth. Many players, including the two, Moon Hyun-bin, Choi In-ho, Kim Seo-hyun and Hwang Jun-seo, are expected to have even higher expectations next year.

Of course, salaries of players who have grown rapidly this season are also expected to increase significantly. “The annual salary negotiations are also going well. It is being carried out step by step, and the results will be known when the results are announced later,” Son said cautiously.

Since few of the young guns that have grown rapidly this season have received more than 100 million won, except for Noh Si-hwan 131 million won, annual salary expenditures are unlikely to hurt salary caps more than expected.

It is not that there are few players available in the FA market. There are also some useful bullpen pitchers who can contribute to the Hanwha Eagles who ranked eighth in the team’s ERA 4.38.

Hanwha, however, plans to take a step back and look elsewhere. It is Ryu Hyun-jin, who has become an FA in the Major League and is currently searching for a new team. No specific details have been told about Ryu’s future yet. Ryu is showing positive response to ending his career in Korea, but he is still expressing his desire to play more in the MLB. However, if big league teams’ proposals are less than expected or if they fail to invite the team they want, the possibility of him returning to Korea cannot be ruled out.

Although he has qualified as an FA in the MLB, if Ryu chooses to return to Korea, the Hanwha Eagles will take precedence. This is because he used the posting system when he moved to the MLB from Korea, not the FA. Ryu, who was put on the operating table last year due to an elbow injury, returned from injury at the end of this season and showed off his robustness. Expectations are high that he will still play as the best pitcher in the league if he returns to Korea.

He also has another foreign pitcher contract left. “Still, I think I’ll be busy for the next week,” Sohn said, being cautious. “We need to clean up foreign players and see what Ryu will do next.”

The blueprint for next year has almost been drawn. “I’ve tried my best, but things always look empty. There seems to be no end even if I reinforce it,” Son said. “I still have to do a little better for the rest of the year.” 스포츠토토