How can you do this? Not even a single won? Returning to the White Flag after stigmatizing uncontracted...Why KIA was so cold
Feb 09, 2025
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KIA re-signed Kim Sa-yoon on the morning of the 8th for an annual salary of 40 million won on the 7th. KIA has thus announced briefly that it has completed renewing the annual salary of its players in 2025.
KIA aimed to complete the renewal of its salary with the team on the 22nd of last month. It was to finish work before leaving Irvine Spring camp in the United States. KIA negotiated with last year's MVP Kim Do-young, who was expected to have the biggest impression, by putting off the negotiations for the last time, but rather, negotiations with Kim Do-young ended quickly and neatly. KIA offered 500 million won, an increase of 400 million won from Kim Do-young's annual salary of 100 million won last year, and the player was satisfied with the exceptional treatment and stamped it satisfactorily. KIA drew a picture of wrapping up the salary negotiations with Kim Do-young, but it was unexpectedly difficult to narrow its difference with Kim Sa-yoon.
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 the club would be a little more generous.
However, Kim Sa-yoon had to break her stubbornness without raising a single won. First of all, he must have felt fully that the club had no more room for negotiation while remaining uncontracted.
The longer you hold on, the more disadvantageous the player is. According to KBO regulations, the renewal of the salary must be completed by January 31. Players who fail to complete salary negotiations beyond the deadline are classified as unsigned players. Uncontracted players are not allowed to participate in group training with the squad. Of course, Kim Sa-yoon was excluded from both the first and second-tier spring camp list, and he had to face the disadvantage of not being able to participate in team training at all before signing the salary contract. Of course, you can't get paid properly because you haven't finished your salary contract. There must have been no choice but to consider various realistic situations.
Kim Sa-yoon was not a player who had to join the camp in a hurry by conducting rehabilitation training throughout the winter. An KIA official announced Kim Sa-yoon as the only non-contracted player on the 22nd of last month and explained, `I decided to have more time to talk because I am currently a rehabilitation player.' Even after completing his salary contract, Kim Sa-yoon will not join the first and second-tier camps, but will join the Hampyeong (second-tier training site) rehabilitation team to prepare for the season.
Why did KIA have to be so cold. Kim Sa-yoon pitched in 23 games in the first team last season, recording one loss, one save, 37 innings, and an ERA of 4.62. The number of registration days for the first team was 98 days. It was the return season after undergoing elbow surgery and flying the entire 2023 season, and it was true that he did the licorice task of handling garbage innings in the bullpen, but it was not a full-time experience. It was too much to give the same generous treatment as the winners.
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In any case, Kim Sa-yoon held out in the hope that he would treat him a little more, but he prepared for the new season with only the stigma of being the "only uncontracted". In order to compensate for the difficult time Kim Sa-yoon endured while negotiating his salary with the club, he has no choice but to perform better this season. If the club makes irrefutable performances, it may get the amount or more it wants without any noise in the next salary negotiations. Everything is up to Kim Sa-yoon.
Kim Sa-yoon graduated from Hwasun High School and joined the SK Wyverns (current SSG Landers) as the 28th overall in the third round of the rookie draft in 2013 and began his professional career. KIA reached a turning point when it was acquired in May 2022 through a trade after a brutal time that seemed to work or not in the first division. In January 2023, he changed his name from Kim Jung-bin to Kim Sa-yoon, expecting a change.
Kim Sa-yoon has also entered his 30s while not being able to establish himself in the first division even after moving to KIA. Now that the team can't wait to be a prospect anymore, something has to be shown. Will Kim Sa-yoon, who is in his fourth year of transfer to KIA this year, be able to properly prove his value on the mound using the pain of suffering in salary negotiations.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
