*This content was translated by AI.
Much attention is being paid to the future course of Son Ah-seop (38), the only "free agent (FA) non-contractor."
In the end, there was no name for Son Ah-seop on the Hanwha Eagles' spring camp list. The Hanwha team set up the first spring camp in Melbourne, Australia, but Son is not there at the moment.
Son Ah-seop is one of the living legends of the KBO League. Above all, he is the main character of the KBO league record of most hits (2,618). He dominated the era as a typist. He held the Golden Glove in his arms six times and became the batting king once. He also received the most hits award four times.
Not many expected Son Ah-seop to be shunned by the market this much. Son Ah-seop's annual salary last year was 500 million won. It is the same as Kim Hyun-soo (38)'s salary in the 2025 season as the KT Wiz this year after also qualifying as an FA. But the two are now walking on different paths. In November last year, Kim Hyun-soo signed a three-year FA contract with KT with a full guarantee of 5 billion won (3 billion won in down payment, 2 billion won in total annual salary). Also, he was not an FA, but Kim Jae-hwan (38) also succeeded in signing a two-year, 2.2 billion contract with SSG Landers.
The team that wants Son Ah-seop only needs to pay KRW 750 million, 150% of his annual salary, to Hanwha. If there is a lot, it is a lot, and if there is, it is a small amount. There is even no reward player. Moreover, the value of experienced veterans in the KBO league has recently been highly evaluated outside of their skills. Teams that have tried to rebuild by excluding veterans have eventually strengthened their team power by recruiting senior officials again.
Son Ah-seop left the NC Dinos for Hanwha through a trade in July last year. Hanwha paid NC one ticket and 300 million won in cash for the third round of the 2026 KBO Rookie Draft. It was clear why Hanwha wanted Son Ah-seop. It was to try to win the game in the fall baseball. At the time, Hanwha explained, "We made this trade because Son Ah-seop, who holds the record for the most hits in the KBO league and has a postseason OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.008 in the last 10 years, thought it would help him enter the fall baseball league."
After meeting with Hanwha's team after the trade last year, Son Ah-seop said in an interview with reporters, "When I calmly calmed down and thought about it, I thought (going to Hanwha) could be another opportunity. Another opportunity is to play in the game. I felt a lot that my seat was narrowing (in the NC). Of course, I got a lot of opportunities, but when I felt it, I felt that my position was narrowing," he said. However, no one would have imagined that FA Mia would go further and be at the crossroads of forced retirement.
Son Ah-seop is one of the living legends representing the KBO League. He played in more than 100 games except for a single season (2024 seasons) from the 2010 season to the last season. He also hit .300 for nine consecutive seasons from the 2010 season to the 2018 season, and also hit triple-digit hits for 14 consecutive seasons from the 2010 season to the 2023 season. In the 2023 season, he became the first in KBO league history to hit 150 hits for eight consecutive seasons. In June 2024, he surpassed Park Yong-taek's (2504 hits) record and became the hero of the most hits in KBO history.
Son Ah-seop has played in 2,169 KBO league games with a batting average of 0.319 (2,618 hits in 8205 times at bat), 182 home runs, 463 doubles, 37 triples, 1086 RBIs, 1,400 runs, 232 steals (72 failed), and 962 walks with 41 bodies, 1336 strikeouts, a slugging percentage of 0.451 and an on-base percentage of 0.391.
The industry believes that Son Ah-seop is going through a current ordeal due to the lack of long-shot power. Son Ah-seop played in 111 games last season, but had only one home run. Of course, it can be used as a designated hitter, but Hanwha recruited Kang Baek-ho as an FA ahead of this season. It can be said that the positions of the two overlap. In fact, not many teams have designated hitters as regulars. In many cases, they take turns using the designated hitter position as a rest. This is why Hanwha does not have much regret for Son Ah-seop.
Initially, Hanwha was in a mood to focus on negotiating non-FA multi-year contracts with Noh Si-hwan and Kim Bum-soo's FA contract. Among them, Kim Bum-soo left the team while signing with KIA. Now, conditions have been prepared to focus on the contract of Noh Si-hwan and Son Ah-seop. A baseball official told Star News, "Some of the eyes looking at Son Ah-seop are not small, and only one home run in the 2025 season," adding, "In the end, it seems highly likely that he will surrender his white flag to Hanwha." Of course, the situation could certainly be different if there is a serious level of outfielder vacuum at other clubs during spring camp or after the opening. What will happen to Son Ah-seop.
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*This content was translated by AI.
