KBO decided to establish a’Futures FA system’ after the 2021 season. The goal was to activate the transfer of players who have been staying in the Futures League (second team) for a long time. It was an alternative to the existing secondary draft system. The KBO League 1st team registration date less than 60 days was for players with more than 7 seasons in total.
After opening the lid, there are many side effects, so it will be abolished after two years and will return to the second draft. However, in the second year, that is, at the last moment of the implementation of the system, a beneficiary came out. He is Lee Hyeong-jong (34), an outfielder who signed a four-year contract with Kiwoom for a total of 2 billion won. While several teams jumped into the scouting battle, Lee Hyeong-jong offered 2 billion won as a guarantee and chose Kiwoom, where many opportunities awaited him.
What everyone paid attention to was that Lee Hyung-jong signed a multi-year contract like a first-team free agent. In fact, it is known that even some club directors were unaware of the fact that Futures free agents could sign multi-year contracts at first. Because there was no such wording in the regulations.
The regulations stipulate that contracted players must be registered as affiliated players, that when transferring, 100% of the previous season’s annual salary is paid to the original club as compensation without compensation, and that the annual salary cannot exceed 100% of the previous season’s annual salary. points were indicated. There was no mention of a multi-year contract. Considering the fact that it’s practically unlikely to offer a multi-year contract to a futures free agent, it’s not worth paying attention to.
However, the situation changed as the agency requested a final, authoritative interpretation of the possibility of a futures free agent 바카라사이트 player’s multi-year contract, and the KBO issued an interpretation that “can be done.” Only the first year’s salary could not exceed the previous year’s salary (120 million won), and after that, depending on the design of the contract, it was possible to get more money. This is the background that not only LG, the original club, but also other clubs, including Kiwoom, offered multi-year contracts.
As a result, it has become a better situation than the C grade, the lowest grade of the 1st group FA. Class C does not have compensation players, but 150% of the previous year’s annual salary must be paid. Lee Hyung-jong, who was a promising prospect, had to acquire Futures FA instead of first-team free agency due to position changes and injuries, but as he was able to sign a multi-year contract, he became more profitable.
As a general rule of thumb, the first-team free agency market should be busier and bigger than the futures free agency market. However, looking at the current FA market, this was not necessarily the case. While Hyeong-Jong Lee and Seok-Hyun Han (NC), who applied for Futures free agents, found a new team early on, there are still five uncontracted players in the first-team free agent market. In terms of total amount, there are a total of 6 first-team free agents who signed free agent contracts on a smaller scale than Lee Hyung-jong.
While the Futures FA system is expected to be remembered as the last case that opened the player’s path, it can be interpreted as a contract that can read Hyung-jong Lee’s basic value and expectations. Hyungjong Lee, who had a lot of ups and downs in his career, has been recognized for his brilliant talent. He had a batting average of 0.281, 63 home runs, 254 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.797 in 624 first-team career games. LG had a very thick player base, so it was not easy to get a chance to participate, but as Kiwoom’s suggestion suggests, in 2023, he was given an opportunity to demonstrate his skills in a slightly different position.