"You can say that you're giving away the main players in the first team no matter what."
Choi Won-tae, a pitcher who knew he would compete in FA, has never heard from anyone. It is so quiet that it is hard to predict which team he will sign. He will not be an "FA Mia," but it is hard to say for sure which team he is most likely to sign.
Around this time a year ago, Choi was mentioned as a pitcher who would be selected as the biggest fish if he becomes an FA a year later. Although Ko Young-pyo had his name, he signed a non-FA multi-year contract with KT Wiz earlier this year. It was natural that Choi, who has built his strong career as a starter, is considered a better resource than Um Sang-baek (Hanwha).
However, as time passed and the FA market opened, the market reaction to Choi Won-tae is cold. Um Sang-baek decided to receive 7.8 billion won from Hanwha early on and completed the contract.
It is regrettable for Won-tae Choi. He has no choice but to think that he should receive a proposal of at least the same size as Um Sang-baek, who is far ahead in overall wins. He is not selfish.
However, we also need to take a close look at the market situation. For now, each team is completing investment in areas where it is absolutely necessary. There is pressure on the salary cap as well. Also, Choi's evaluation could have changed over the past year. Choi won only nine games this season, and he has shown sluggish performance again in fall baseball, giving an impression that he is weak in big games. There were also many health issues every season. He only exceeded 150 innings once in 2019.
On top of that, compensation ratings give a bigger impact than expected. Choi is rated as FA A. The scale of compensation is different from that of B. In the case of Eom Sang-baek, since he is rated B, KT received one compensation player and 100 percent of the previous year's annual salary, in addition to 25 protected players. However, in Grade A, the number of protected players is reduced to 20 and 200 percent of the annual salary is also required. Since Choi's annual salary is 400 million won, it is also a big burden to add 800 million won to his down payment and annual salary.
However, money may not be a big deal. The problem is a compensation player. In summary, the team paid billions of won to recruit Choi, but it is worrisome that a player with similar skills will become a compensation player.
How big is the difference between the players with 20 and 25 players? "The number of players in the first division is 27. Based on that standard, it's easy to say. If you protect 25 players, you can easily remove players in the 1.5th division from the 1.3rd division. For the 20 players, regardless of their position, one of the main players will play 메이저놀이터." In fact, the compensation players for the players in the B-grade Shim Woo-joon (Hanwha), Um Sang-baek and Jang Hyun-sik (LG) were Han Seung-joo, Jang Jin-hyuk, and Kang Hyo-jong. They are not the most obvious starting players. However, if we move on to protecting the players with 20 players, the fifth starting player who wins 7-10 games may be eliminated. Choi also has nine wins, which complicates his mind.
When an A-level player is treated as an FA and transferred, for example, it takes place when he is convinced that he is a player who can change the game if he is brought in without considering the back-and-forth situation, such as Yang Eui-ji (Doosan). However, there are question marks over whether Choi Won-tae is such an overwhelming player, so the market is quiet. If the ransom is low, he will be able to bear the bleeding of losing his main player, but there is no sign that the ransom will fall, so the clubs have no choice but to watch the situation flow.