Lee Jung-hoo, who won 5 batting crowns last season and became the regular league MVP, signed an annual salary contract of 1.1 billion won, an increase of 350 million won (46.7%) from last year’s 750 million won.
Kiwoom Heroes announced on the 20th that it had completed an annual salary contract with all 51 people eligible for annual salary contracts for the 2023 season (excluding rookies, fostering, military reserve, free agents, and foreign players).
Lee Jung-hoo, who will challenge the major leagues at the end of the 2023 season, became the first player in the KBO League to record an annual salary of more than 1 billion won with a single-year contract, excluding special cases such as free agency, multi-year contracts, and returning to overseas groups.
Along with this, the record for the highest annual salary in the 7th year of the KBO League was also confirmed. The highest annual salary for the previous 7 years was 550 million won received by Kiwoom Ha-seong Kim in 2020. Lee Jung-hoo received an annual salary of 230 million won in the 2019 season, an annual salary of 390 million won in the 2020 season, an annual salary of 550 million won in the 2021 season, and an annual salary of 750 million won in the 2022 season, and also holds the record for the highest annual salary in the 3rd to 6th years of the KBO League.
Lee Jung-hoo participated in 142 games during the regular season and recorded 193 hits in 553 at-bats, 23 homers, 85 points, 113 RBIs, and a batting average of 0.349, contributing to the team’s advancement to the Korean Series.
In addition, pitcher An Woo-jin earned an annual salary of 350 million won, an increase of 200 million won (133.3%) from 150 million won last year. Woojin Ahn recorded the highest rate of increase among 51 people who were subject to salary contracts within the team this season.
Lee Ji-young, whose free agent contract expired at the end of last season, signed for 500 million won, up 200 million won (66.7%) from the previous year, Kim Hye-seong for 420 million won, an increase of 100 million won (31.2%), and Kim Jae-woong for 116 million won. Each signed a contract for 220 million won, an increase of 1 million won (111.5%).
On the other hand, out of 51 people subject to annual salary contracts, a total of 11 people, including 5 pitchers and 6 fielders, have annual salaries in the hundreds of millions of won. 토토사이트