[IS 피플] The’grandson of the wind’ without hesitation… ‘Annual Salary’ is currently ongoing

Lee Jung-hoo, who was stamped with the Kiwoom club on the 12th for an annual salary of 550 million won. IS photo

There is no hesitation. ‘Grandson of the Wind’ Lee Jeong-hoo (23, Kiwoom) has even changed the annual salary record for the 5th year of the KBO League.

Kiwoom’s club announced on the 12th that “The annual salary after Lee Jung-hoo this season is 550 million won.” In 2020, it increased by 160 million won (41%) from 390 million won. With this, Lee Jung-hoo easily surpassed the highest annual salary of 320 million won in the fifth year of the league held by team senior Kim Ha-seong (now San Diego). Lee Jung-hoo, who newly wrote the highest annual salary records for his 3rd and 4th years, was recognized for his worth for the third consecutive year. The 50,000 million won is the newest annual salary (400 million won) for the sixth year set by Ryu Hyun-jin (then Hanwha) in 2011.

Early salary increase was expected. Lee Jung-hoo played in 140 games in the regular season last year, hitting a batting average of 0.333 (181 hits in 544 at-bats), 15 home runs, and 101 RBIs. Career high for both home runs and RBI. In particular, he made up for his only weakness, his slugging power, and hit his first double-digit home run. He also hit 49 doubles, breaking the record for the most doubles in a season written by Gerard Hoing (47 at the time) in 2018. He won the Golden Gloves for three consecutive years after the season, making him the league’s best outfielder.

Chomi’s interest was whether it exceeded 500 million won. Considering that Lee Jung-hoo is already a high-paid salary, there was a talk inside and outside the baseball world, “It’s great to pass 500 million won.” The only Kiwoom players who earned more than 500 million won in annual salary in 2020 were Park Byeong-ho (2 billion won) and Kim Ha-seong (550 million won). Unfortunately, considering the team’s performance that was eliminated in the wild card match, the impression could not be large. However, Kiwoom offered an amount that exceeded expectations.

After signing, Lee Jung-hoo said, “I am grateful to the club for providing good conditions every year. I have a satisfactory contract, so I am concentrating only on sports. I feel a lot of responsibility as it is a high-priced contract. We can meet the expectations of fans and clubs. I will try until the end of this season so that I can do it.” He said, “Ha-sung hyung is missing, but Kiwoom’s baseball must continue. I will try to fill the vacancy of Ha-seong-hyung from me. The goal of this season is also the team win. I will do my best.”

On this day, Kiwoom announced all 51 annual salary contracts for registered players in the 2021 season (excluding rookies, training, military reserves, free agents, and foreign players). The total annual salary is 13 billion, and the total annual salary is 5,714 billion won (based on registered players), a decrease of 4.6% from last year. Signboard hitter Park Byeong-ho’s annual salary was cut by 500 million won, but he kept the first place in the team (1.5 billion won). Among pitchers, Yanghyun signed 120 million won, and Kim Tae-hoon and Lee Seung-ho each signed 100 million won, making it the first time since their professional debut.

Reporter Bae Joong-hyun [email protected]