"There is no progress."

The Kia Tigers and pitcher Kim Sa-yoon (aged 31) are still in parallel in salary negotiations. Kia announced on Monday that it has signed contracts with 44 people, excluding Kim, out of 45 people eligible to renew their salary contracts. Nearly 15 days later, Kia and Kim still have not reached an agreement. The club said, "Different opinions have not narrowed at all between the time when the non-contract was announced and the current one."
According to KBO regulations, renewal of salary must be completed by Jan. 31. Players who fail to complete salary negotiations before the deadline are classified as pending players under contract. 카지노

Uncontracted players are not allowed to participate in group training with their teams. Therefore, Kim is not included in the spring camp list for both the 1st and 2nd teams. Until he renews his contract, he is only allowed to conduct individual training separately from his team. This inevitably causes disadvantages in preparing for the season.

Uncontracted players can be re-registered as full-time players once they have completed an annual salary contract with the club. At the time of their 2023 salary contract, Doosan Bears classified pitcher Lee Young-ha as an uncontracted player. Lee Young-ha was on trial for school violence, and the club classified him as an uncontracted player because it planned to use him after Lee was cleared of the charges. Lee Young-ha was able to sign an annual salary of 120 million won and start training for the Futures team immediately after he was acquitted in May of that year.

Why have Kia and Kim failed to reach an agreement? Kim's annual salary last year was 34 million won, which was equivalent to the minimum annual salary for rookies (30 million won). Kim played in 23 games as relief pitchers last year, recording one loss and one save, 37 innings and an earned run average of 4.62. On May 30 last year, he made an impressive impression by securing an 11-2 victory by making three scoreless saves against the Changwon NC Dinos. Kim blew the entire 2023 season through elbow surgery, and successfully returned to injury last year, laying the groundwork for an annual salary increase.

Kia suggested Kim Sa-yoon a higher amount than last year, but the amount reportedly fell short of the player's expectations. As the club determines its annual salary based on high performance, there is little room for change in the fixed amount. There is also a problem of fairness with other players, and the system could be twisted by itself. As the club has no choice but to be cautious, and the players are also claiming the amount they want with their own basis, the negotiation time is getting longer.

Kim Sa-yoon has never missed the minimum salary level while wearing a KIA uniform. The last time he negotiated with SSG was 32 million won in 2022, and slightly increased to 36 million won in 2023, the first year of negotiations with KIA. As he took the entire 2023 off due to injury, his salary in 2024 was cut by 2 million won. It is true that he has not achieved a dramatic rebound on the mound like his ransom, which has been hovering around.

Kim Sa-yoon is currently in rehabilitation training due to her injury. As she is not in a hurry to join the spring camp, the club is giving the player plenty of time to think.

After graduating from Hwasun High School, Kim Sa-yoon joined the SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers) as the 28th overall pick in the third round of the rookie draft in 2013 and began his professional career. In SSG, he rarely settled down in the first division, and joined KIA in a trade in May 2022. KIA gave up catcher Kim Min-sik to SSG and made a 1-2 trade to receive Kim Sa-yoon and infielder Lim Seok-jin. KIA counted on Kim Sa-yoon, who is left-handed and throws a fastball in the mid-140km/h.

However, Kim failed to contribute as much to the bullpen as he expected. In January 2023, he changed his name from Kim Jung-bin to Kim Sa-yoon, seeking to make a change. He displayed strong enthusiasm to write the trade success story, but time passed differently than he felt as he was constantly hampered by minor injuries including elbow injuries, contrary to Kim's will.

Kim spent the season recovering his confidence in his own way last year. At a time when Kia needs to continue its positive trend again this year, will the two sides be able to reach an agreement soon.