*This content was translated by AI.
Kim Bum-soo (31, KIA Tigers), who has been active as a one-club man, also failed to catch him. While Han Seung-hyuk (33, KT Wiz) was sent off, the hole in the bullpen got bigger.
KIA signed a free agent (FA) contract with Kim Bum-soo on the 21st. "We have signed a contract worth a total of 2 billion won, including 500 million won in down payment, 1.2 billion won in annual salary, and 300 million won in incentives during the three-year contract period," he announced.
As a result, Hanwha strengthened its lineup by signing a four-year, 10 billion won contract with Kang Baek-ho in the stove league, but lost two key players in the bullpen.
Among the two internal FA, Kim Bum-soo left for KIA and it is virtually difficult to sign a contract with Son Ah-seop. Hanwha only reiterated that it is "discussing in a good direction," but a little more consideration shows that the contract is not easy.
One of the biggest reasons was the recruitment of Kang Baek-ho. In this stove league, Hanwha brought Kang Baek-ho to strengthen its lineup. In other words, he spent 2.5 billion won more in a hurry.
If you think about the competitive balance (salary cap), you can see how much Hanwha has lost. In the total amount of the top 40 players' salaries for each club in 2025, announced by KBO on the 18th of last month, Hanwha was confirmed to have spent 12.65 billion won, which left 1,058.19 million won from the upper limit of the competitive equal tax in 2025.
From 2026, the upper limit of the competitive balance tax will be raised by 5% every year for three years until 2028. Next year, it will have an additional margin of KRW 680 million at KRW 14.39 billion. In other words, it can be said that he entered the stove league with a total margin of about 1.73 billion won.
On top of that, An Chi-hong (Kium) and Lee Tae-yang (KIA) left for the second draft. Both are players who have signed FA contracts with Hanwha, and Ahn Chi-hong signed a four-year contract of 4.7 billion won and Lee Tae-yang signed a four-year contract of 2.5 billion won. It is set at an annual average of 1.175 billion won and 625 million won. Han Seung-hyuk (KT) left as a compensation player and saved 94 million won. In other words, about 1.9 billion won was saved due to the departure of three players.
However, with the recruitment of Kang Baek-ho, the annual average of 2 billion won was spent, and as a result of the salary negotiations on the 21st, the contract with Noh Si-hwan was renewed to 1 billion won, up 670 million won from 330 million won last year.
Of course, the exceptional player system (Larry Bird Rule), which will be established from this year, is expected to play a role in giving a breath. KBO has selected one franchise player designated by the club to increase fan loyalty so that annual salary can be reduced in the calculation of competitive equilibrium taxes. The club allows one of the players who has registered as a player for more than seven seasons to be designated as an exception every year and allows the player's annual salary (including incentives) to be calculated at 50%.
In Hanwha, choosing Ryu Hyun-jin, who signed an eight-year, 17 billion won contract as a non-FA, is the most beneficial condition. Ryu Hyun-jin received an annual salary of 2 billion won last year. Assuming that it is the same this year, 1 billion won will be saved.
However, the players were active enough to reach the Korean Series for the first time in 19 years last year, and Hanwha's contract status of the top 13 players in annual salary revealed on the 21st will cost about 600 million won additionally except for Roh Si-hwan.
However, if Kang Baek-ho achieves the option here, he will spend an additional 500 million won. In addition, he urgently negotiated his salary before the spring camp and put out the urgent fire, but if he completes a multi-year contract with Noh Si-hwan, more spending could be added. In this case, it can be seen that the margin almost disappears in the competitive equilibrium. It can be interpreted as the reason why the contract with Kim Bum-soo and Son Ah-seop was sluggish.
The increased bleeding in the bullpen has become Hanwha's big homework this season. With two foreign pitchers and Ryu Hyun-jin and Moon Dong-ju expected to take the starting position one by one, Wang Yancheng in the Asian quarter also joined. If Jung Woo-joo, who performed tremendously last year, and Kim Seo-hyun take the center stage and Park Sang-won, Joo Hyun-sang, and Um Sang-baek, who had the worst season as an FA, rebound, bullpen bleeding is expected to be minimized.
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*This content was translated by AI.
