The salary cap has become a ‘hot topic’ in its first year. The LG Twins will be the first team in the KBO to go over the salary cap next year. The salary cap is at risk due to the high salaries of the existing roster and the free agent signings of Oh Ji-hwan and Im Chan-gyu this winter. Free agents Ham Deok-ju and Kim Min-sung are also still under contract.
KBO introduced the salary cap system in 2023 to level the playing field and ensure the league’s continued development. It’s a soft salary cap that comes with sanctions and penalties for violations. The salary cap was set at 11.426 billion won ($11.263 billion), which is 120% of the average annual salary of the 10 clubs based on the combined salaries of the top 40 players (excluding foreign players and rookies) of each club in 2021-2022, including salaries, option payments, and average annual contracts for free agents. The cap will remain in place for three years, from the 2023 season through the 2025 season. Afterward, the salary cap will be revisited in light of inflation.
The KBO announced on Nov. 20 the total amount of the top 40 salaries for each club in 2023 that will be applied to the salary cap. No team exceeded the salary cap limit, but there were five teams that used up more than 95 percent of their salary cap. Doosan had the highest amount among the 10 teams at 11.081 billion won. SSG was second with $10.8647 billion and LG was third with $10.795 billion.
However, LG is likely to exceed the salary cap for the 2024 season.
LG used up about 95% of its salary cap this year, leaving it with $628.88 million.
Of LG’s top 40 salaried players this year, Jin Hae-soo (250 million won), Seo Gun-chang (200 million won), Song Eun-beom (140 million won), Choi Sung-hoon (105 million won), Lee Ik-woong (80 million won), and Jung Joo-hyun (65 million won) left the team via trade, release, or second round draft. The six players’ combined salary for this year is 840 million won.
If Go Woo-seok, who earned $430 million this year, makes it to the major leagues, there will be extra money available. 온라인카지노 The combined total is estimated to be around 1.9 billion won to 2 billion won for next year’s salary cap.
LG announced two free agent signings on the 21st. Oh Ji-hwan and Im Chan-kyu. Oh Ji-hwan signed his second free agent contract for 6 years and up to 12.4 billion won (5 billion won down payment, 5 billion won total annual salary, and 2.4 billion won option). First of all, until this year, Oh’s FA contract was an average of 400 million won per year, but from next year, his FA contract will be included in the salary cap at an average of 833.3 million won per year. It will increase by more than 400 million won. Oh Ji-hwan’s salary this year was 600 million won. Next year’s salary will not decrease from 600 million won, but will increase slightly.
Im Chan-kyu signed a 4-year, up to 5 billion won contract.
Im made 170 million won in salary this year. An average of 150 million won per year goes into the salary cap. If his salary is 500 million won next year, the salary cap will increase by 500 million won. Options are also added based on performance. There is an option of 600 million won every year, which is 300 million won if you win half of it. Salary + options will increase by at least 6-8 million won.
The two free agent contracts of Oh Ji-hwan and Im Chan-gyu alone will take away at least 1 billion won and up to 1.7 billion won in salary cap space. There are also six new salaries that will replace the six that were removed from the top 40. Even if they average 100 million won, that’s 600 million won.
There is also an amount that will be added to the salary cap.
With LG winning the Korean Series for the first time in 29 years, the salaries of the re-signees will go up significantly. Hong Chang-ki, who won two Golden Gloves for batting average and runs scored, Shin Min-jae, who made the leap to second base, Moon Bo-kyung and Moon Sung-joo, who are getting better every year, and Yoo Young-chan, Baek Seung-hyun, Park Myung-geun, Lee Ji-gang, Choi Dong-hwan, and Lee Woo-chan on the pitching staff will get raises.
Last year, LG finished second in the regular season, and the total increase for the 45 re-signees (excluding free agents, foreign players, and rookies) was about 700 million won. Since the team won the overall title this year, there will be more players who will receive raises than those who will be cut, and the amount will be higher.
We also still have Ham Deok-ju and Kim Min-sung’s free agent contracts. Ham Deok-ju was paid 100 million won this year, and Kim Min-sung was paid 180 million won. Going over the salary cap is a given, it’s just a matter of how much. If you’re going to go over the salary cap next year, the best way to do it is to sign a bunch of free agents next year and reduce the amount of the salary cap in the 2025 season.
If you violate the salary cap two years in a row, the penalties increase dramatically.
If you sign a player over the salary cap, you’ll have to pay a penalty of 50% of the overage for the first time. A second consecutive violation will result in a penalty of 100% of the overage and a nine-position drop in the following year’s first-round pick. For the third consecutive time, you will be required to pay a penalty equal to 150% of the excess, and your first-round pick for the following year will be reduced by 9 positions.
“The best way to run a club is to not exceed the salary cap,” Cha said, laughing, “(But) if you don’t exceed it, you don’t have to bring in players. It’s easy if you think you’re not doing well, but you can’t not do well because of the salary cap. You have to acquire players, you have to invest in good places. We’ve been in the postseason for five years, and we’ve won a championship. The way the salary cap is right now, if you have to go over, you have to go over,” he said of the team’s payroll situation. “We’re trying to make sure we don’t go over twice in a row,” he added.
Cha is determined to exceed the salary cap next year. “We have a contingency plan to violate it once. However, if the team violates the cap twice in a row, they will lose their rookie draft, so they plan to avoid it.
