As expected, Oh Ji-hwan (33) remained at LG. He disappeared from the next free agent market as he signed a multi-year contract with LG early, leaving one year to reacquire free agency.
On the 19th, Oh Ji-hwan agreed to a multi-year contract with LG from 2024 to 2029 for a total of 12.4 billion won over 6 years. With a guarantee of 10 billion won and an option of 2.4 billion won, the highest amount among all shortstops in the KBO League. It is the largest contract in the history of the LG club.
Oh Ji-hwan, who remained at LG with a 4-year, 4 billion won free agent contract in December 2019, was scheduled to reacquire free agency after this season. However, since last winter, multi-year contracts have been popular in the KBO league, and LG has also formed a consensus with Oh Ji-hwan early. An agreement was reached before leaving spring camp. Oh Ji-hwan was put down with a contract that was more than three times bigger than the free agency. 먹튀검증
As expected, with Oh Ji-hwan effectively signing a ‘life contract’ with LG, the atmosphere for the next free agent market will be somewhat bleak. It is evaluated as a market that already lacks special free agents, but since the largest fish has disappeared, the possibility of the market temperature cooling has increased. A different atmosphere is expected from the FA market, which has heated up over the past three years.
Players who can qualify for FA after this season are pitchers Lim Chang-min (Kiwoom), Lim Chan-gyu, Jin Hae-su, Ham Deok-joo (LG), Kim Jae-yoon, Ju Kwon (KT), Shim Chang-min (NC), Kim Dae-woo, Oh Seung-hwan (Samsung), Kangryul Kim, Gunhee Hong (Doosan), Minjae Jang, Wooram Jeong (Hanhwa), catcher Minshik Kim, Jaewon Lee (SSG), Jiyoung Lee (Kiwoom), Taegun Kim (Samsung), infielders Geonchang Seo, Minseong Kim (LG), Sunbin Kim (KIA) , Kang Han-ul (Samsung), Yang Seok-hwan (Doosan), Ahn Chi-hong (Lotte), outfielder Lee Yong-kyu (Kiwoom), Kim Heon-gon (Samsung), Jeon Jun-woo (Lotte), and Noh Soo-gwang (Hanwha).
There are plenty of free agents for each position, but there are many veterans in their mid-30s, so it is questionable how many will apply for qualification. This winter, Yang Eui-ji (Doosan), Park Min-woo (NC), Chae Eun-seong (Hanwha), Yoo Kang-nam (Lotte), Park Dong-won (KIA), and Noh Jin-hyeok (Lotte) do not appear as prominent free agents. The biggest word to win contracts worth more than 10 billion won over the past two years is even less visible.
It’s not like it’s just a cold wind blowing. There are certainly notable free agents. On the pitcher side, Kim Jae-yoon with 137 saves and sovereignty with 105 holds draw attention. In particular, Ju Kwon is 28 years old, the youngest among pitchers. As a fielder, Yang Seok-hwan, who has used Jamsil Stadium as his home for the last two years in a row and has hit more than 20 homers, deserves to be called the greatest player.
The competitiveness of requalified free agents has not yet died. It is noteworthy whether Ahn Chi-hong, who transferred to Lotte after winning the highest contract for 2+2 years at 5.6 billion won in the FA market 4 years ago in the cold wind, will sign more contracts. After renewing the contract with Lotte for 4 years and 3.4 billion won, I wonder how Jeon Jun-woo, who was re-evaluated as the best free agent in terms of cost performance, will be treated.