Incentive contracts are absolutely disadvantageous for players[SS 시선집중]

Third baseman Nolan Arenado had to wait for MLB and MLBPA approval when it was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in February 2019 due to a complicated $260 million contract. AFP Yonhap News

[LA=스포츠서울 문상열전문기자] Case 1. The major league news last weekend was the St. Louis Cardinals trade by Nolan Arenado, 29, the Colorado Rockies icon third baseman. However, the news that came out after the press announced the trade was that the approval process of the MLB and the MLBPA remains. All trades go through this process. However, the addition was that Arenado’s February 2019 contract was very complicated.

In fact, the president of the St. Louis John Moseliac baseball team also said at a press conference on the 3rd, “Arenado’s contract was complicated and the trade decision was not easy.” These are the provisions that were inserted in the $260 million contract two years ago, including the non-trade clause and opt-out after the 2021 and 2022 seasons, with Colorado paying $51 million of the remaining annual salary. In MLB and MLBPA, since the two teams may have collusion other than the contract, they put weight on the approval process unlike other trades.

Kenta Maeda, who signed an eight-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in January 2016, tried to refuse approval by the athletes union for a contract with a belly larger than a belly. AP Yonhap News

Case 2. On January 7, 2016, former Hiroshima Toyo Carps right-hander Kenta Maeda, 32, signed a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers for an eight-year gross salary of 25 million dollars. Maeda is the first in the history of a free agent contract with an 8-year long-term contract with a guarantee annual salary of only $3125,000. There is a clause in the clue that you can get up to $10 million in incentives. Maeda cannot exceed the maximum annual salary of $13.12 million. His performance in the 2020 season is a 15 million dollar pitcher. It was a very rare contract in the United States, where the belly button was larger than the belly. Maeda has an incentive for every pitching inning, number of appearances, trades, and opening game entries. It was traded to the Minnesota Twins last year and received a $1 million bonus.

The athletes’ union immediately expressed its intention to refuse approval, saying, “There is no such contract.” It was a natural backlash from the standpoint of the union that protects players’ rights. However, there was a reason Maeda was forced to sign such an inequality contract. The Dodgers’ physical examination revealed something wrong with her shoulder. As a bait, the Dodgers offered an inequality contract with low guarantees, and Maeda, who had dreamed of becoming a major league, accepted it.

The absolute advantage for a player in a long-term contract is opt-out. Competitors may exercise this or ignore it and abide by the contract. If the record is good and the free agent market situation is favorable, you can actively use it to raise the ransom. Incentives are absolutely advantageous for the club. Even if the player is good and receives more salary, the club will not lose. However, incentives do not set targets that can be easily reached.

LG Chau-chan signed a two-year contract with a guarantee annual salary of 300 million won and a belly larger than the incentive of 700 million won. Sports Seoul Reporter Choi Seung-seop

Case 3. KBO League free agent Cha Woo-chan (33) signed a contract with a guarantee annual salary of 300 million won and an incentive of 700 million won for two years and up to 2 billion won. The belly button is larger than the typical belly. After signing the contract, LG General Manager Myung-Seok Cha explained, “It is difficult to accurately state the details of incentives, but as much as you can achieve them in a stepwise fashion, you receive incentives.” Keeping incentives a secret is inevitably disadvantageous to players, no matter how good they are.

If it’s a major league, it’s a matter that the MLBPA will put a quick brake on it. KBO Secretary General Dae-Hwan Ryu said, “Only a large amount of incentives are stated in the player contract, and the details are unknown.” It is a secret if only the club knows. If details of incentives are provided in the KBO submission, this is private and not confidential. It can prevent the disadvantage of players.

The history of the KBO League annual salary contract is a reverse contract. It was common that the club announcement and the actual salary contract were different. Recently, problems have been revealed in the contents of the contract for foreign players, and KBO has stipulated that there is no announcement amount and back-end transactions. The Athletes Council should carefully review Cha Woo-chan’s contract as well as the new type of incentive system introduced by Samsung Lions. Basically, it is not a desirable system to reduce a player’s guaranteed salary.

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