From Park Se-woong (Lotte) to Koo Chang-mo (NC). The sale of FA starting pitchers is gradually disappearing. As non-FA multi-year contracts are popular, it has become difficult to find a special starting pitcher in the free agent market for the time being.
On the 17th, NC signed a non-FA multi-year contract with left-handed pitcher Koo Chang-mo. After the 2024 season, depending on whether Gu Chang-mo acquires free agency, the scale is 12.5 billion won for 6 years from 2023 to 2028 or up to 13.2 billion won from 2023 to 2029 6+1 years. In the case of military service, the contract period is extended by the corresponding period.
Gu Chang-mo has at least two more years left to acquire FA. It is possible to acquire a free agent after the 2024 season after the free agent registration date and obtain at least 35 points by participating in international competitions such as the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and the Hangzhou Asian Games next year.
This is a very unusual multi-year contract for a 25-year-old player whose military service issue has not yet been resolved. However, NC caught Gu Chang-mo early, who could become a free agent two years later at the earliest. Although the US major league also highly valued the future value of Koo Chang-mo, who is also interested in it, it seems that he has prepared for the FA market situation, where resources for starting pitchers are increasingly scarce in the future.
Prior to Koo Chang-mo, 메이저사이트 Park Se-woong signed a multi-year non-FA contract with Lotte last October for 5 years and 9 billion won. Park Se-woong is also not in the military, but Lotte hurriedly defended it with one season left until FA acquisition.
At this time a year ago, SSG stopped the start of a non-FA multi-year contract with starting pitchers Park Jong-hoon (5 years, 6.5 billion won) and Moon Seung-won (5 years, 5.5 billion won). Four out of six non-FA multi-year contract players over the past two years, including Koo Chang-mo, are starting resources. As players who need to appear in the free agent market remain under generous conditions, it is becoming more and more difficult to recruit proven starters.
Right now, even this winter, a clear starting free agent has not appeared on the market. ‘Swingman’ Lee Tae-yang (Hanhwa) and salvation Won Jong-hyeon (Kiwoom) signed a 4-year, 2.5 billion won contract, the highest contract among pitchers. Free agent pitchers expected to qualify after next season are Lim Chan-gyu, Ham Deok-joo (both LG), Kim Jae-yoon, Ju Kwon (above KT), Shim Chang-min (NC), Oh Seung-hwan (Samsung), Kim Kang-ryul (Doosan), and Jang Min-jae (Hanwha). There are notable bullpen resources, but no first-class starters.
If you want to recruit a top-notch free agent, you have to wait at least two years from now. After the 2024 season, proven starters such as Ko Young-pyo, Eom Sang-baek (KT), Choi Won-tae (Kiwoom), and Lim Ki-young (KIA) become free agents. These players are also potential non-FA multi-year contract candidates, but free agency may be advantageous given the current market situation. Unless the performance drops sharply for two years, it is a structure in which the value of free agents is bound to soar according to the law of supply and demand.