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| Only the Tampa Bay Race Choi. © AFP=News1 |
Infielder Choi Ji-won (30), who helped advance the Tampa Bay Race to the World Series, failed to negotiate an annual salary with the club.
MLB.com said on the 16th (Korean time), “Tampa Bay has reached an agreement with four of the six annual pay adjustment targets. Choi Ji-man and Ryan Yabro are headed to the mediation committee.”
Six members, including Choi Ji-man, had to finish negotiations with the club by this day. If no consensus point is found, the athlete and the club must each present the desired amount and wait for the decision of the steering committee.
The two sides can continue negotiations until the coordination committee scheduled for February. However, as Tampa Bay is not responding to further negotiations, it is expected that the annual salary will be decided by the mediation committee.
Tampa Bay has won a total of 11 coordinating committees six times over the past 23 years. However, since 2016, all five coordination committees have been defeated.
Choi Ji-man scored a batting average of 0.230 and 3 homers and 16 RBIs in 42 games this year. However, he was strong against New York Yankees ace Garrett Cole, and in the postseason he was in the spotlight for his excellent defense.
Choi Mann’s 2020 annual salary is known to be $850,000. Locally, only Choi’s annual salary is expected to double. The Tampa Bay Times estimates that only Choi will receive $1.6 million to $2.1 million.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has concluded annual salary negotiations with Tyler Glasno ($4 million), Yoni Chirinos ($1175,000), Manuel Margo ($3.4 million) and Joey Wendle ($2.25 million).