The Lotte Giants have completed an annual salary contract with 60 people for the 2023 season and are ready to start overseas spring camp. Infielders Han Dong-hee (23) and Lee Hak-joo (32) signed an option annual salary contract related to the performance of the 2023 season.
Lotte announced on the 30th that it has completed contracts with 60 people subject to annual salary contracts for the 2023 season. Lotte finished preparations to leave for spring camp, which will be held from the 1st of next month, at the same time as completing the annual salary contract.
In this contract, Lotte signed an option annual salary contract with Han Dong-hee and Lee Hak-joo. Han Dong-hee, who received 172 million won last year, agreed with Lotte to receive a fixed annual salary of 192.6 million won, up 12% this season. According to the contract, Han Dong-hee can receive up to 266.8 million won if he achieves the number of at-bats and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) target. The Lotte club explained, “We reduced the guaranteed amount and put a lot of options on the performance of the batting department.”
Han Dong-hee is the player that Lee Dae-ho, who retired at the end of last season, pointed out as a key player for Lotte’s future batting line. Han Dong-hee played in 129 out of 144 regular games last season, recording a batting average of 0.307, 140 hits, 14 home runs and 65 RBIs, and performed well. 300 batting average in his 5th season since his professional debut in 2018.
Lee Hak-ju decided to receive a fixed annual salary of 72 million won, up 2.9% from 70 million won last season, and agreed with the club to receive a larger salary according to the number of games played.
Outfielder Hwang Seong-bin (25) occupied the first place in the annual salary increase rate of the Lotte club this season. Hwang Seong-bin signed for 72 million won, a 140% increase from last season’s annual salary of 30 million won. Hwang Seong-bin played in 102 games last season, batting average of 0.294, 94 hits and 10 steals, invigorating the team’s offense. 스포츠토토
In the salary negotiations this season, the first two 100 million salaries were also produced. The main characters are pitchers Lee In-bok (31) and Na Kyun-an (24). Lee In-bok signed a contract for 145 million won, a 70.6% increase from last season’s annual salary of 85 million won. Na Kyun-an stamped at 109 million won, an increase of 51 million won from 58 million won in 2022.
Kim Won-joong (29) is the ‘salary king’ among players with general annual salary contracts, excluding players with FA contracts. Kim Won-joong signed a contract for 252 million won, down 9.4% from 278 million won in the 2022 season, but kept his position as the annual salary king. Koo Seung-min (30), who recorded 26 holds last season and played an active role as a key player in Lotte Gyetujo, agreed to 248.6 million won, a 37.3% increase from 181 million won in the 2022 season. Koo Seung-min will serve as the pitching team leader this season and will lead junior players along with captain An Chi-hong.
The increase in the salary of players who performed well last season is also noteworthy. Outfielder Ko Seung-min signed a contract for 72 million won, an increase of 35 million won (92.1%) from 38 million won in the 2022 season. Koh Seung-min performed well in the 2022 season, his first return season after being discharged from the military, with a batting average of 0.316, 74 hits and 30 RBIs. Pitcher Kim Do-gyu (4 wins, 4 losses, 3 saves, 8 holds) agreed to 95 million won, an increase of 38 million won (66.7%) from 57 million won, and was about to join the ‘100 million annual salary club’. Catcher Jeong Bo-geun also signed for 59 million won, up 73.5 percent from last season’s 34 million won.
Meanwhile, Lotte will start its spring camp in Guam, an American territory, from February 1st. Lotte plans to conduct physical and technical training on a 4-day training-1 day rest schedule at Dededo and Paseo baseball fields in Guam until the 19th. After returning to Busan on the 19th, Lotte will move from Incheon International Airport to Ishigaki Island via Okinawa, Japan on the 20th the next day. The team will train until the 26th at Ishigaki Baseball Field, a field training ground for Chiba Lotte of the Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB), and will play an exchange match against the Chiba Lotte 2nd Army on the 22nd and 24th.