Catchers are the most important position in baseball. That’s how precious players are. Recently, finding a good catcher is called picking stars in the sky. That’s why catchers tend to play baseball for a long time unless they are treated well and have health problems.
However, there is one catcher who feels lonely this winter. It is Lee Ji-young. She became a free agent for the second time in her life. A free agent gives a player a chance to make a big hit. But to Lee, it is a faraway country.
I applied as a FA ambitiously, but it is hard to hear the news of the negotiations. Kiwoom Heroes, the original club, is not very interested in Lee Ji-young. The trend was already detected last season. He began to point out and raise rookie catcher Kim Dong-heon as the future of the team. The operation was successful by making him the gold medalist at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Meanwhile, Lee Ji-young lost her opportunity. He played only 81 games, the fewest since joining Kiwoom in the 2019 season.
Now Kiwoom’s new home turf is Kim Dong-heon, who does not have to serve in the military. So Kiwoom does not have to hang itself on Lee Ji-young, the FA. However, Lee, who turned 38 this year, could not afford to let go of the FA opportunity, which could be her last chance. She boldly challenged herself.
But no team is looking for Lee. No, to be exact, there are teams that want her. But they can’t even dare to sign a contract with her. After becoming a second FA, Lee is rated B. A team that takes a B-grade FA must pay one compensation player, in addition to 25 protected players, 100 percent of the previous year’s salary or 200 percent of the annual salary to the original team. Lee’s annual salary last season was 500 million won. It is a huge burden to give a 38-year-old player, even if he has to pay a certain amount. Even if the teams really make concessions and receive compensation only, it will amount to 1 billion won. The amount of compensation is also too large.
As mentioned above, catchers are rare in the league, and there were certain teams that tried to recruit Lee Ji-young. However, when you think about compensation, you give up your thoughts immediately. A club official said, “If it was Grade C, the transfer would have been confirmed.” 스포츠토토 사이트 추천
Lee Ji-young has been recognized for her robust defense throughout her career. She loves her first pitch, but she also displayed robust hitting performance. She has enough time to play for two to three years. She can be a starting member for a team with a weak catcher, and is an excellent resource as a backup option, if not a starting member. The current situation is not easy, however.
In the winter of 2018, Lee Ji-young left the Samsung Lions through the KBO’s first three-way trade and joined the Kiwoom uniform. After playing for one season showing a huge change in his performance at Kiwoom, he even signed an FA contract with Kiwoom on the condition of a three-year total of 1.8 billion won. Kiwoom treated Lee with utmost respect, making her the first FA contract hero in the stove league at the time.
However, the world of professionals is scary. When the need is reduced, people become relentless and cool-headed. Lee might feel upset, saying, “How could you treat me like this all of a sudden?” Lee doesn’t seem to have many options. In order to continue his career, he seems to have to accept the conditions that Kiwoom offers. It is also unclear whether he will offer the conditions. The best-case scenario is for Kiwoom to push for a sign-and-trade agreement with a club that needs Lee, but it is questionable how aggressive he will be.
