'Expected up to 20 billion won → 30.7 billion won in 11 years' Hanwha had a different approach, the story behind Son Ah-seop and Kim Bum-soo that is now understood

*This content was translated by AI.

In the contract between Son Ah-seop (Hanwha Eagles), who represents the KBO League, and Kim Bum-soo (KIA Tigers), who spent the best season as a one-club man, Hanwha showed a very passive appearance. In the end, he lost his must-win pitcher to KIA and signed a one-year contract with Son Ah-seop for 100 million won.

The reason was quickly revealed. This is because the priority was on Noh Si-hwan (26).

Hanwha announced on the 23rd that it signed a non-FA multi-year contract with Noh Si-hwan, the team's leading hitter, on the 22nd.

The terms of the contract are jaw-dropping. It is an ultra-large contract worth a total of 30.7 billion won in 11 years including options from the 2027 to 2037. It is the longest and largest in KBO League history, including all free agent contracts and non-FA multi-year contracts.

Hanwha emphasized, "We signed a large contract reflecting Roh Si-hwan's past (the process of joining as a rookie and growing into a franchise star and symbolism), the present (value as a big gun representing the KBO League), and the future (the possibility of future development is still open at a young age in his mid-20s)."

Ahead of his departure from Hanwha's first spring camp on the 21st of last month, Noh Si-hwan said, "I'm still talking about it and it's going well," adding, "I signed a salary contract well and I hope to tell you the news as soon as possible. I'll talk faster," he said, but he hit a jackpot that exceeded his expectations. It is worth about 2.8 billion won every year. Even if converted into four years, it easily exceeds 10 billion won, is 16.7 billion won in six years, and 22.3 billion won in eight years, far exceeding Ryu Hyun-jin's previous FA record of 17 billion won in eight years.

Noh Si-hwan joined Hanwha as the third overall pick in the second first round in the 2019 KBO Rookie Draft, played 91 games from his first year, and won two hits with 31 home runs and 101 RBIs in 2023. Last year, he had a career-high season with 32 home runs and 101 RBIs. General manager Son Hyuk compared Jang Jong-hoon and Kim Tae-kyun, who are indispensable in Hanwha's history, and said he expects Noh Si-hwan to become such a symbolic hitter.

Hanwha was not initially a team that had a lot of room for competitive equality (salary cap). Among them, Kang Baek-ho was recruited for up to 10 billion won for four years.

Among them, the contract between Kim Bum-soo and Son Ah-seop was at hand. Kim Bum-soo was a pitcher Hanwha must catch. Kim Bum-soo's value grew even more as Lee Tae-yang left as the second draft and Han Seung-hyuk as Kang Baek-ho's FA compensation player.

Nevertheless, stories related to Kim Bum-soo in the stove league were not easily told, and on the 21st of last month, news of a three-year contract with KIA was finally heard with a total of 2 billion won.

He then signed a contract with Son Ah-seop only on the 5th, and the scale was 100 million won per year. It was an unsatisfactory treatment for Son Ah-seop, but in the worst case, it was the only option to choose in a crisis where he would not find his team until the start of the season.

For Hanwha, Noh Si-hwan was the top priority and had to sign a contract on an unprecedented scale in KBO history, so it seems that other factors were forced to be put off to the lower ranks.

Still, it seems that no clear solution has been found for the salary cap. General manager Son Hyuk said, "We are discussing that well with the working-level staff. Strategically, there is a difficult part to say at this point," he said. "In fact, when I thought I signed about three FA contracts with Noh Si-hwan, I thought it was a much better contract to sign a long-term contract now in many ways. It was a part where all working-level people shared their thoughts," he explained.

They say they will also actively help them advance to MLB. Hanwha said, "We added a clause that allows players to advance to the Major League through posting after the end of the 2026 season so that they can also induce motivation for players."

If the period of play in MLB is prolonged, the actual contract period and contract amount will be reduced.

However, it was judged that it was a contract of sufficient value even if all of those were excluded. On the 11-year contract period, Sohn said, "Simply put, it's because it's Noh Si-hwan. Noh Si-hwan thought he was the present and future player of Hanwha Eagles, succeeding Jang Jong-hoon and Kim Tae-kyun, legends that all Hanwha Eagles fans know. "As a result, the working-level team said that a long-term contract was good, and the reason it was easy was that the word "Hanwha" was constantly in Noh's head," he said.

Noh Si-hwan also said, "From the beginning, I only thought about the Hanwha Eagles, and I've never thought about going to another team," adding, "I'm so excited and happy to see fans for 11 more years." Now, the fans don't have to say, "Don't go anywhere."

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.