Will foreign batter Socrates Brito (32) succeed in renewing his contract following James Nail (31), a "special ace" who signed a contract worth $1.8 million with the KIA Tigers.
Kia officially announced on Monday that it has renewed its contract with foreign pitcher Nail for a total of 1.8 million U.S. dollars (down payment of 400,000 dollars, annual salary of 1.2 million dollars, and option of 200,000 dollars). Nail, who took the mound in the KBO League for the first time this season, started 26 games and recorded 12 wins, 5 losses and an ERA of 2.53 strikeouts (ranking first in the league) in 149.1 innings, ranking first in the league.온라인바카라
Despite the big bad news of being hit on the chin by the ball on August 24 and fracturing the jaw joint, he showed his strong will to return as a surprise first pitch in a home game held at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on September 6.
After concentrating on rehabilitation to return to the Korean Series, Nail took the mound in the Korean Series with remarkable resilience. In the first game of the Korean Series against the Samsung Lions, he pitched five innings of four hits, six strikeouts and one run, and in the fourth game of the series, he pitched six hits and seven strikeouts and two runs in five ⅔ innings, leading KIA to its 12th overall championship. Nail is also known to have received attention from Major League teams in the Stove League, but she has taken Kia's hands again.
As he marks the renewal of his nail contract, great attention is also being paid to whether Socrates will renew his contract. There was also an opinion that the size of Nail's contract would affect Socrates' companion next year, but it seems that it will not.
Socrates, who joined KIA in the 2022 season, succeeded in renewing his contract for the second time with a batting average of 0.311 with 17 home runs and 77 RBIs with an OPS of 0.848 in the first season and a batting average of 0.285 with 20 home runs and 96 RBIs in 142 games last year, which was in its second year.
Socrates, who had previously shown a "slow starter" temperament, did not meet expectations until the middle of the season this year, and even had a "release" but rebounded from June to finish the season with a final score of 0.310 26 home runs, 97 RBIs and an OPS of 0.875.
Assuming that he renews his contract with Socrates, Kia's total contract for foreign players is $4.4 million, plus a $100,000 increase for Nail in the first year of his contract and a $300,000 increase for Socrates in the third year of his contract. KIA will have to make up the remaining two foreign players with $2.6 million, of which $1.8 million has already been poured into Nail.
Socrates' contract total this year was $1.2 million. Even if a batter who contributed to the team's overall victory is paid a higher salary, it is unlikely that Socrates will surpass the salary cap unless he demands an unreasonable amount of money.
The problem, however, is his performance. Socrates had a disappointing performance as a foreign hitter in this year's championship team. OPS ranked sixth among seven foreign hitters in the league who participated in regular at-bats this year. Socrates and Jonathan Peraza of the Hanwha Eagles (0.850), the only hitters who failed to surpass the OPS of 0.9. The key to renewing the contract is whether Socrates achieved a performance that deserved more than 1.2 million dollars before the salary cap.
It is true that Socrates is regrettable both in terms of cost-effectiveness and performance. It remains to be seen whether Kia, which is aiming to win consecutive championships next year, will renew its contract with Socrates, a third-year foreigner, to focus on maintaining stable power or take on a "challenge" to bring in new foreigners.