Kang Baekho is gone' Will the annual salary of 1 billion Roh Si-hwan and Won Tae-in, preliminary FA 'suppress transfer' effect [RYU SUN KYU's beaded ball]

*This content was translated by AI.

The announcement of the players' annual salary contracts for 10 professional baseball teams in 2026 began with KT Wiz and KIA Tigers on January 15 and ended with SSG Landers on the 31st.

In general, the deadline for each club's annual salary contract is set in line with the spring camp departure schedule. Tickets for players are usually booked between November and December of the previous year. At this point, the club and the manager confirm the roster of the spring camp participants the following year and notify the players individually.

Since last year, the start of spring camp has been moved forward by a week to January 25 every year, and most clubs have been finalizing their salary contracts based on this date. In the past, some clubs had announced their salary contracts until February, but the atmosphere is different in the last two seasons. This year, all clubs except SSG have completed their team's annual salary contracts until January 25, when the spring camp will be held. SSG also postponed its announcement due to negotiations on a non-FA multi-year contract with Choi Ji-hoon, and completed the contract with the rest of the players early.

In the past, there was a movement to end the team's annual salary contract before the new year came, and there was also an invisible competition among the 10 clubs for the "first contract announcement." How fast to complete the salary contract was seen as a symbol of the club's readiness and operational stability.

In my case, I served as the general manager of the SK Wyverns and SSG Landers from 2021 to 2022 and ended the team's annual salary contract within December of the previous year for the second consecutive year. He encouraged salary managers and met directly with players who had negotiations remaining. The intention was to prepare for the season with both the team and the club relaxed ahead of the new year.

Summarizing the timing of the announcement of the team's annual salary contracts of 10 KBO clubs over the past five years, some implications can be found.

As shown in the table, there were only two cases of finalizing the salary contract in December of the previous year: SSG Landers in 2022 and Doosan Bears in 2025. However, the results of the two teams were sharply divided. In 2022, SSG won the wire-to-wire unified championship, but in 2025, Doosan accepted the worst report card of ninth place. It shows that the completion of an early salary contract is not proportional to the performance.

Another characteristic of this year's salary contract is that negotiations on non-FA multi-year contracts have been conducted relatively openly by several clubs. They are Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha), Won Tae-in (Samsung), Hong Chang-ki (LG), and Jihoon Choi (SSG). In the process, the timing of the announcement of the salary contract has been delayed. Like SSG and Samsung in 2022, the team's neatest picture is to organize and announce non-FA multi-year contracts at once.

However, publicly held non-FA multi-year contract negotiations have yet to be reached. Instead, contracts for players such as Lee Ji-young (SSG) and Kim Jin-sung (LG), who were relatively unnoticed, were announced first. In addition, there were cases of signing an ultra-high contract with an annual salary of 1 billion won like Noh Si-hwan and Won Tae-in. From the player's point of view, the non-FA multi-year contract proposal itself is taken as a sign that it is "recognized" by the club. On the contrary, it is also true that you feel disappointed if you do not receive an offer.

Nevertheless, the reason why non-FA multi-year contracts are not easily concluded is in line with the recent surge in FA market prices. This is because from the player's point of view, coming to the market as an FA is the way to receive greater compensation.

Recently, in the KBO League, the "Preliminary FA Premium" has reappeared for players who qualify as FA after next season. Such cases have been intermittent since SK Wyverns (current SSG) applied it to Jung Geun-woo (550 million won → 700 million won) and Choi Jung (520 million won → 700 million won) in 2014. After Kang Baek-ho (290 million won → 700 million won) last year, Noh Si-hwan (330 million won → 1 billion won) and Won Tae-in (630 million won → 1 billion won) this year, the situation started in earnest again.

The preliminary FA premium is a strategy used by the original fastball team to curb the transfer of key players to other clubs. So did it actually work.

In the past, the effect was limited. In 2014, SK awarded Jung Geun-woo and Choi Jeong 700 million won, respectively, but Jung Geun-woo declared FA and moved to Hanwha. At that time, 700 million won was an unconventional level for non-FA players. SK expected this amount to act as a deterrent, but the results were different. Hanwha recruited Jung Geun-woo, and SK received 2.1 billion won in compensation instead of compensation players. It was judged that it would be difficult to find a player worth 700 million won except for 20 protected players.

In 2025, KT also paid 700 million won to Kang Baek-ho, but Kang Baek-ho moved to Hanwha after the FA declaration. However, the results were different. KT named pitcher Han Seung-hyuk as a compensation player and collected 1.4 billion won in compensation together. It is a scene that shows that the depth of the Hanwha team has strengthened significantly over the past 11 years.

Since Jung Geun-woo's transfer, skepticism has spread among clubs about the preliminary FA premium. Then, this phenomenon was reproduced again through Kang Baek-ho, and Noh Si-hwan and Won Tae-in. If the two players move to the FA in the future and the original fastball team does not nominate a compensation player, a compensation of 3 billion won will be incurred. It's definitely a big amount of money.

However, even 2.1 billion won in compensation 12 years ago did not prevent the transfer. It is still questionable whether 3 billion won, an increase of 900 million won, will work as a deterrent. There are 10 teams in the KBO League, and among them, there are always teams that need to perform right away. There is a possibility that such a club could also accept compensation of 3 billion won.

Whether this trend will become a trend will eventually be told by the FA results of Noh Si-hwan and Won Tae-in. Of course, there is a possibility that the option of a non-FA multi-year contract will open before that. However, if either player declares an FA and moves to another club, the preliminary FA premium may disappear for a while again as before. Or another baseline that exceeds 1 billion won could emerge. History is bound to repeat itself.

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*This content was translated by AI.