Noh Si-hwan, a 24-year-old emerging slugger of the Hanwha Eagles, had the best season of his career by winning the home run king and the RBI king last year. He won the Golden Glove (third baseman) for the first time in his career and swept the top batter’s prize at various award ceremonies. It was natural to expect an annual salary increase. Sohn Hyuk, Hanwha’s general manager, couldn’t help but smile at Noh’s cute appeal.
While the result of Hanwha’s annual salary negotiations has not yet been made public, good news came first from a friend who was born in 2000. The main character is Moon Bo-kyung, an infielder with the LG Twins. Moon had a career-high season last year, recording a batting average of 0.301 (141 hits in 469 at-bats), 10 homers, 72 RBIs and an OPS of 0.825 in 131 games. Moon saw his annual salary increase by 130 million won (76.5 percent) to 300 million won.
It is quite different that Moon and Roh are directly compared. Moon was already ahead of the starting line with an annual salary of 131 million won last year. Moon had a batting average of 0.315 (128 hits in 406 times at bat) in 2022, and his salary had already increased significantly once until last year when he recorded a batting average of .300 for the second consecutive year. In addition, LG was the overall winner of last year’s salary increase.
Roh’s cumulative performance has not been outstanding yet. He joined Hanwha in 2019 as the third pick in the second round of the rookie draft after graduating from Kyungnam High School, and finally showed off his potential as a rising star in his fifth year. His performance in the last season was 131 games, a batting average of 0.298 (153 hits in 514 times at bat), 31 homers, 101 RBIs and an OPS of 0.929. He set a personal best in a season in all batting indicators. Although his salary point last year is lower than that of Moon Bo-kyung, Roh had an overwhelming season in terms of performance alone. You can expect a similar ransom inwardly.
Salary reflects individual performance, but baseball is a team sport, and therefore team performance is inevitably reflected. When it comes to team performance, Noh loses a lot more than Moon Bok-kyung. Last year, Hanwha ranked ninth with 58 wins, 80 losses, and six draws.
Noh is the present of Hanwha and the future of Korean baseball. There has been a generational shift in the national team since last year, and Noh Si-hwan, the home run king, has naturally played a central hitter in the national team as well. At the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held in October last year, Moon Bo-kyung and Kang Baek-ho won the gold medal by adding weight to the lineup, and at the 2023 Asian Baseball Championship (APBC) held in November, he struggled as the fourth hitter, contributing to Korea’s runner-up status. If Hanwha compensates for Noh’s performance last year with his annual salary, it can be a motivation to grow further this year. 스포츠토토사이트
After the end of the last season, Noh also delivered baseball supplies worth a total of 20 million won (17,400 U.S. dollars) to his alma mater Suyeong Elementary School, Gyeongnam Middle School, and Gyeongnam High School. He wanted to repay his alma mater with donations, which laid the foundation for him to grow into a home run king. If his annual salary increases this year, he will be able to spend more money on his juniors.
At an award ceremony last year, Noh said, “Players cannot get what they want. If we come to an approximation that I think we can make a happy contract. I hope many of you post it. I hope you will pay more attention to me since I will do better next year. Please write the words that I will do better next year.” Did Noh sign an amount that he would be glad to ask Sohn to raise his salary? It makes us wonder how Hanwha would have treated his team’s current and future home run king.