"How can this be a single won?" He just stigmatized an uncontracted person and surrendered the white flag...Why KIA was so cold
"How can this be a single won?" He just stigmatized an uncontracted person and surrendered the white flag...Why KIA was so cold
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After many twists and turns, the Kia Tigers have signed contracts with all 45 players who will renew their salaries in 2025. Pitcher Kim Sa-yoon (31), who was the last remaining uncontracted player, surrendered his white flag.
KIA announced briefly on Monday morning that Kim Sa-yoon renewed his contract with an annual salary of 40 million won on Sunday. With this, Kia has completed renewing its entire salary for its players in 2025.
Kia aims to complete the renewal of its annual salary with its players on April 22. The intention was to complete the process before leaving the Irvine Spring camp in the U.S. Kia put off the negotiations with Kim Do-young, last year's MVP, for the last time when the biggest increase was expected, and held negotiations with him quickly and neatly. Kia offered a whopping 400 million won increase from Kim Do-young's annual salary of 100 million won last year, and the player stamped his seal satisfactorily, satisfied with the exceptional treatment. Kia painted the picture of wrapping up the annual salary negotiations with Kim Do-young at the end of the year, but it was at a loss as its differences with Kim Sa-yoon did not narrow.
After a long tug-of-war with the club, Kim Sa-yoon signed an increase of 6 million won from last year's salary of 34 million won. Kim Sa-yoon's annual salary of 40 million won this year is the amount KIA has stuck to from the beginning. Kim Sa-yoon did not even apply for a salary adjustment as the team won the integrated championship last year and faced winter in a good atmosphere, but he hoped that the club would be a little more generous while holding out as much as possible.
However, Kim had to break his stubbornness without raising a single won. He must have felt that the club had no more room for negotiations while remaining as an unregistered contractor.
The longer they hold on, the more disadvantageous will the players be. According to KBO regulations, renewal of salary must be completed by Jan. 31. Players who have not completed annual salary negotiations before the deadline are classified as pending players. Uncontracted players are not allowed to participate in group training with the team. Of course, Kim was excluded from the list of spring camps for the first and second tier teams, and he had to face the disadvantage of not being able to participate in team training at all before signing the annual salary contract. Of course, he is not paid properly because he has not completed the annual salary contract. He must have had no choice but to consider various realistic situations.
Kim was not a player who needed to join the camp as he conducted rehabilitation training throughout the winter. An official from Kia said, "As Kim is currently a rehabilitation player, I have decided to have more time to talk to him." Kim will not join the first- and second-tier camps but will join the Hampyeong (second-tier training camp) rehabilitation team to prepare for the upcoming season.
Why was Kia so cool-headed? Kim had one loss, one save, 37 innings and an ERA of 4.62 in 23 appearances for the first team last season. The number of days registered for the first team was 98 days. It was the season to return to the mound after undergoing elbow surgery in 2023 and he did not have full-time experience in dealing with garbage innings in the bullpen. It was too much to treat players just like the winners.
The club sets the amount of increase or cut based on high performance in order to reduce noise as much as possible in salary negotiations. Pitchers who had similar contributions within the team last year include Kim Gun-guk and Kim Seung-hyun. Kim Gun-guk signed for 45 million won, an increase of 5 million won from last year's 40 million won, with 20 games, one loss, 34 ⅓ innings, and an ERA of 7.86. Kim Seung-hyun agreed to 46 million won, an increase of 5 million won from 41 million won last year, with one win, 18 innings and an ERA of 4.00 in 15 games. Kim Sa-yoon's increase was 1 million won higher than them, but his satisfaction can be relatively low because his salary itself was so low last year. Still, it seems that it was difficult for the club to unconditionally respect Kim Sa-yoon's individual wishes as they had to look at the entire team and move while putting weight on equity. The difference would have been insignificant to say that Kim Sa-yoon is not a high-payer in salary cap. 메이저놀이터
In any case, Kim had to endure it hoping for a little more treatment, only to be branded as "the only non-contracted" to prepare for the new season. If Kim is to be compensated for the difficult time he endured while negotiating with the club, he has no choice but to show better performance as if he is looking forward to this season. If the club produces irrefutable performances, he may be able to achieve the desired amount or more in the next salary negotiation. Everything is up to Kim.
After graduating from Hwasun High School, Kim Sa-yoon joined the SK Wyverns (current SSG Landers) as the 28th overall pick in the third round of the rookie draft in 2013 and began his professional career. KIA reached a turning point when it was acquired through a trade in May 2022 after a time that seemed to be impossible in the first division. In January 2023, he changed his name from Kim Jung-bin to Kim Sa-yoon, expecting a change.
Even after moving to Kia, Kim failed to establish himself in the first team, and he is now in his 30s. At an age when his team can no longer wait for him, expecting him to be a promising player, he now has to show something. This year marks the fourth year of his transfer to Kia, and will Kim be able to prove his value on the mound.