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35-year-old catchers’ mixed winter…Kim Tae-gun’s ‘2.5 billion’ hit, Kim Min-sik’s ‘2.5 billion → 500 million’ bargain contract that he tasted four years ago

SSG announced in a press release on the 16th that it has signed a two-year contract with FA catcher Kim Min-sik (35) for a total of 500 million won (400 million won per year and 100 million won in incentives). Kim Min-sik joined SSG’s predecessor SK with the 11th overall pick in the second round of the rookie draft in 2012, and Kim Min-sik won the title of the “winning catcher” by leading the two combined victories in KIA in 2017 and SSG in 2022. After signing the contract, Kim Min-sik said, “I am happy to continue my career in the friendly team. I will become a player who makes more efforts to help SSG reach the top once again with my team’s seniors and juniors.”

As a result, Kim will be able to play 2024 season after a short break due to his FA contract. However, Kim has no choice but to think that it is a regrettable winter to come. He dramatically revived from a crisis where he almost lost his place due to his cool-headed perception of reality and judgment.

Kim Min-sik had no restrictions on his transfer to a C-rated FA and even had the merit of being a catcher. In addition, he had abundant experience and a winning career as a main catcher. It could not be considered an A-class sale, but it was a quasi-scale sale. Above all, Kim Min-sik’s best advantage was that he was a C-rated FA, which was free from compensation regulations.

In fact, the club that needed Kim Min-sik the most was SSG. Even when it came to the market, SSG needed Kim Min-sik the most. If Kim Min-sik moved right away, there was no main catcher. Lee Jae-won, a native of Incheon, moved to Hanwha asking for voluntary release. There was a promising player Cho Hyung-woo and Park Dae-on and Shin Bum-soo were recruited in the second draft, but the risk was too great to entrust them with a season. Kim Min-sik was needed.

However, Kim Min-sik had nowhere to go. Most teams had been building up their catcher lineup. Doosan and LG displayed weak catcher lineup, but they were solid as they were the starting catcher. Above all, they had to deal with the burden of salary cap. It was overwhelming for LG to catch Lim Chan-gyu, Kim Min-sung, and Ham Deok-ju, who were already FA players. Doosan also had no backup catcher suitable for its main catcher Yang Eui-ji, but it was the team that came closest to the cap on salary cap. It was not easy to sign a contract with bullpen pitcher Hong Kun-hee.

Kim Min-sik was the only one to leave the game. The situation became urgent here. When negotiations with Kim Min-sik were slow, SSG negotiated with catcher Lee Ji-young, who was also in the market, and recruited Lee for a total of 400 million won (350 million won in annual salary and 50 million won in incentives) for two years on the 12th. Instead of Kim Min-sik, it recruited more experienced Lee Ji-young to fill the catcher’s position.

It was the worst case scenario for Kim. “I will keep in touch with Kim going forward. He has contributed a lot to the club. The more catcher resources there are, the better,” Kim said. “There have been differences in the amount of money between the two sides. Things have changed now. We have to wait and see what happens.” Kim ended up signing a contract at a dirt cheap price of 500 million, which is one fifth of the 2.5 billion contract he was offered a year ago. It is inevitable that it will be a bitter and cold winter. 토토사이트 추천

Kim Min-sik, who joined LG in 2012 as a college graduate, and Kim Tae-gun, who started his career after moving to NC Dinosaurs in 2013 after joining LG in 2008 as a high school graduate, have similar career paths. In 821 games, he recorded a batting average of .275 with 24 homers and 25 RBIs with an OPS of .621. In 1,147 games, Kim recorded a batting average of .287, 677 with 25 homers and 291 RBIs with an OPS of .627. As of “Staties,” Kim Min-sik has 2.52 and Kim has 2.44.

Kim became the first free agent after the end of the 2019 season, but he had to deal with it for a long time before getting his stamp. At that time, Kim was more interested in Lotte than his original team NC. NC didn’t pay much attention because it had a special A-class catcher named Yang Eui-ji. Instead, it received a lot of attention from Lotte. However, Lotte applied the “48 Hours” rule and stopped making any more offers after the initial offer. Kim’s side effectively rejected Lotte’s offer as well.

Then, Lotte filled the catcher’s gap by bringing in Shin Ji-wan (then Ji Sung-joon before changing his name) through a trade with Hanwha and withdrew from the market. At this point, Lotte’s choice was also a failure, but Kim Tae-gun was also on the verge of losing his FA as Lotte withdrew from the market at the time.

In the end, Kim signed a four-year contract with NC at a price lower than the market valuation of up to 1.3 billion won (down payment of 100 million won, annual salary of 800 million won, and incentives of 400 million won). Since then, Kim has come under the spotlight from various teams. He was rated as one of the best catchers in the semi-mainstream category. He was traded from NC to Samsung ahead of the 2022 season, and from Samsung to KIA during the 2023 season. After trading Kim Min-sik to SSG in 2022, resolution of the catcher issue became a hot topic, and Kia eventually brought Kim back.

With Kim added and the growth of a young catcher named Han Jun-su, Kia’s catcher lineup has become relatively solid. There was also Han Seung-taek, who is seeking to become a veteran. However, the existence of a key catcher named Kim Tae-gun was naturally necessary, and Kia did not hesitate. It sought a non-FA multi-year contract with Kim.

Kim did not try to enter the market as he did four years ago. His pain four years ago led to realistic judgment. In the end, he made a big hit by signing a three-year contract worth 2.5 billion won (2,2 billion won in annual salary and 500 million won in incentives) on Oct. 16, just before the end of the regular season last year. The result was a choice and result that compares with that of Kim.

62 thoughts on “35-year-old catchers’ mixed winter…Kim Tae-gun’s ‘2.5 billion’ hit, Kim Min-sik’s ‘2.5 billion → 500 million’ bargain contract that he tasted four years ago”

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