LG officially announced a free agent (FA) contract with “captain” Oh Ji-hwan.
The LG Twins announced on the 21st, “We signed an FA contract with Oh Ji-hwan for a total of 12.4 billion won (down payment of 5 billion won, annual salary of 5 billion won, incentive of 2.4 billion won) for a six-year contract period.”
Initially, LG and Oh agreed on a multi-year contract in January. However, the contract was not based on the 2023 season. Oh secured his first free agent status after the 2019 season and signed a four-year, 4 billion won contract with LG. This season was the last year of his existing contract, but he agreed to extend it in advance.
The new contract was scheduled to apply from 2024 to 2029, but Oh applied for an FA after the season, and signed the contract under the terms agreed in January. It was a move in consideration of the second draft, which took place on Nov. 22. With Oh applying for an FA, LG was able to remove Oh from the 35-member protected squad. This is because the FA will be automatically excluded from the second draft.
Oh Ji-hwan, who was called by LG for the first nomination in 2009, is a right-handed left-handed shortstop who is considered to have stable defense and fierce hitting. So far this year, he has a batting average of 0.265 (1579 hits in 5954 times at bat) with 154 homers and 807 RBIs and 256 stolen bases (OPS + on-base plus slugging) in 1,750 games.
Oh has shown great performance in this season as well. He played in 126 regular-league games as his main shortstop and “captain,” posting a batting average of 0.268 (113 hits in 422 times at bat) with eight homers and 62 RBIs, helping LG win the title.
Notably, Oh displayed stellar performance in the most important Korean Series of the year. He had a batting average of 0.316, three homers and eight RBIs in five games against KT Wiz, ranking second in the regular league. Encouraged by his presence, Oh was able to achieve his third win overall in 1990, 1994, 2023, 29 years after 1994. Not only was he named the MVP of the series, but also Oh, who won the Golden Glove in the shortstop category for the second consecutive year following the 2022 season, was able to smile brightly.
After completing the contract with Oh, I am happy to conclude the FA contract well, and I am grateful to Oh. Oh is a shortstop representing the KBO. As the captain of the team and the franchise player of LG, he led the players well this year and played a big role in helping the team win the unified championship. “As the team has performed well this year, I have high expectations for Oh and I think he will lead the team well.”
Oh Ji-hwan said, “I am grateful to the club for offering me to sign a contract on good terms. Above all, I am happy to remain as LG’s player until the end,” adding, “This year, the team won the unified championship with everyone’s efforts and enthusiastic support from the fans, and I will continue to win a lot in the future so that I can give joy to the fans.”
Meanwhile, LG, which also announced a four-year FA contract with right-hander Lim Chan-kyu on the same day, is expected to focus on catching left-hander Ham Deok-ju and infielder Kim Min-sung, who are eligible for other internal FA contracts. 안전 토토사이트