SSG Landers was in danger of exceeding the salary cap, but the decision of Choo Shin-soo (41) saved the day.
The KBO announced the total amount of the top 40 players’ salaries for 2023 by club on April 20. Doosan recorded the highest amount among the 10 clubs with 11.081 billion won, followed by SSG with 10.8647 billion won. No team exceeded the salary cap limit (11.4268 billion won).
The salary cap, which was introduced this year, has had a major impact on the KBO transfer market. The severity of the sanctions for violating the salary cap has made it a top priority for clubs to manage the salary cap. If you sign a player over the salary cap, you must pay 50% of the excess as a sanction for the first time.
A second consecutive violation will result in a penalty of 100% of the overage and a nine-position drop in the following year’s first-round pick. A third consecutive violation will result in a penalty of 150% of the excess and a nine-position drop in the following year’s first-round pick. The salary cap will be in effect through 2026.
SSG has already reached 94.9% salary cap exhaustion this year.
The amount of money against the salary cap was just under $579.91 million. The team also suffered a major setback when franchise star Kim Kang-min moved to Hanwha after excluding high-salaried veteran players from protection in the second round of the draft. Choi Joo-hwan, a 20-homer slugger who earns $650 million a year, also went to Kiwoom in the second round.
Another high-paid player, Choo Shin-soo, 온라인카지노 also made a big decision given the team’s situation. On April 14, Choo announced that he will retire from active play next year and will receive only the minimum annual salary (30 million won), which he will donate in full.
In 16 seasons in the majors (2005-2020) after graduating from Busan High School, Shin-Soo Choo batted .257 with 218 home runs, 782 RBI, 961 runs scored, 157 doubles, and an OPS of .824 in 1,652 games (6087 hits, 1,671 at-bats). The best performer among South Korean players was Shin-Soo Choo, who left the major leagues in 2020 to join the KBO. In three seasons in South Korea (2021-2023), he batted .266 with 49 home runs, 168 RBI, 226 runs scored, 46 doubles, and an OPS of .819 in 361 games (1252 at-bats).
Choo Shin-soo, who helped lead the team to the Korean Series title last year, was a bit of a disappointment this year, batting .254 (382-for-97) with 12 home runs, 41 RBIs, 65 runs scored, six doubles and a .777 OPS in 112 games. SSG also finished third in the league with 76 wins, 3 ties, and 65 losses, and fell short in the semifinals in three games to fourth-place NC (75 wins, 2 ties, 67 losses).
Choo Shin-soo, who earned 2.7 billion won in salary in his first year with SSG,
Breaking the record for the highest salary in Korean professional baseball at the time, re-signed for another 2.7 billion won in 2022 and earned 1.7 billion won in salary this year. This year’s salary was a 1 billion won cut from last year’s, but it was still the highest among players outside of free agents and non-free agent multi-year contracts. If Choo Shin-soo maintained his salary level this year, SSG, which already had a 94.9% salary cap utilization rate, would be in a very difficult situation to manage its salary cap. They wouldn’t be able to sign additional players, and in the worst case scenario, they would be over the salary cap.
But thanks to Choo’s decision, the worst was avoided. SSG said, “Shin-soo Choo decided to accept the minimum salary out of consideration for the team’s management. The club is very grateful for this. This gives us more room to maneuver in terms of salary cap, player salaries, and free agency.”
SSG will do its best to prepare for Shin-soo Choo to have a meaningful final season as he made a big decision for the team. SSG President Kim Jae-hyun said, “Shin-soo Choo has contributed greatly to the development of Korean baseball. We need to send him off in style. We will support him so that he can have a year without regrets.” / AP