“The group wants a beautiful finish with Lee Dae-ho”
The negotiations between the sluggish pro baseball Lotte Giants and free agent Lee Dae-ho (39) were concluded dramatically.
On the 29th, Lotte announced that it had signed a contract with Daeho Lee for a total of 2.6 billion won for two years (a contract fee of 800 million won, an annual salary of 800 million won, and an annual winning option of 100 million won).
In a recent interview, Lee Dae-ho expressed his frustration that he wanted the club to show its sincerity.
That meant that the negotiations were not going well as intended.
The negotiations between Lotte and Lee Dae-ho, which were expected to pass the opening date of the spring camp, were resolved in an instant.
This is not possible without group-level determination and support.
Lotte also admitted this.
A Lotte official said, “The group wanted a beautiful finish with Lee Dae-ho,” and “Chairman Dong-bin Shin likes baseball, and there was strong support at the group level.”
Lotte showed a very cautious move ahead of negotiations with Lee Dae-ho, who was released as a free agent after last season.
The negotiation table with Lee Dae-ho was set up only after completing tasks such as the second release of the team and the renewal of foreign players.
It was after more than a year that I presented the amount to Lee Dae-ho.
Although Lee Dae-ho’s symbolism as a franchise star is recognized, the club situation was not easy to match the amount Lee Dae-ho wanted.
All the KBO league teams suffered the worst financial difficulties due to the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19), but the shock suffered by the retail-based Lotte Group was even greater.
The Lotte Club recently became a hot topic when it was known that it received a 5 billion won loan from its affiliate Lotte Capital.
In addition to the club’s financial difficulties, the negotiations with Lee Dae-ho seemed not easy to reach a smooth conclusion, in line with the stance of General Manager Seong Min-gyu, who made the iron rule not to overpay.
However, as the group came to the fore, the negotiations between Lotte and Dae-ho Lee were resolved with the Spring Camp in front of them.
Lotte guaranteed Lee Dae-ho for two years and bet on the winning option.
It reflected Lee Dae-ho’s desire to win and retire.
It is said that Lee Dae-ho also showed motivation to achieve the record.
Lee Dae-ho had 1,900 hits until last year.
If you consistently hit more than 150 hits a year, you can surpass Kim Tae-gyun (2,209 hits, retirement), who holds the record for the most hits in right-hand hits in the KBO League.
A Lotte official said, “This contract is actually Lee Dae-ho’s last contract,” and said, “Lee Dae-ho has a strong will to retire after burning everything for two years.”
/yunhap news