Recovering his annual salary of 100 million won in a year, recovering his honor

NC announced the completion of the annual salary contract with those subject to renewal, excluding rookies and FA players in the 2024 season, on the 25th. Kwon Hee-dong, who signed a one-year contract as an FA last year, negotiated again as a regular player, and completed the contract at 150 million won, up from 90 million won to 60 million won. The annual salary increase rate is 66.67 percent. It is a meaningful contract for Kwon Hee-dong as it is an annual salary increase that overcame the FA challenge a year ago.

Kwon Hee-dong, who became a free agent for the first time after finishing the 2022 season, faced a cold spell. He had a career low season with a batting average of 2207 (54 hits in 238 times at bat) and five homers and 22 RBIs with an OPS of .654 in 82 games that year, and the NC Dinosaurs had plenty of outfielders. Other than Son Ah-seop, Park Gun-woo, and foreign hitter Jason Martin, there were Kim Sung-wook who returned from Sangmu, Han Suk-hyun who was hired as a Futures FA, and Shin Jae-hwan, an international prospect.

NC, which did not necessarily need Kwon Hee-dong, was lukewarm about renewing the contract. It came to the FA market, but the response was cold. Although he was sluggish in 2022, he was a player who had a use in offense and defense in his entire career. He wasn't very old, but he had a narrow range of movements as a B-grade, where compensation players occurred in addition to 25 protected players. I looked into signings and trades, but it wasn't easy.

Eventually, he signed a one-year contract with his original team NC only on Feb. 27 when the spring camp was in full swing. He was treated poorly with an annual salary of 90 million won and an option of 35 million won, with a maximum total of 125 million won. It was an FA contract that hurt his pride for Kwon Hee-dong, who received a salary of 100 million won for five years from 2018 on the condition that the guaranteed amount was reduced from 110 million won in 2022.

However, Kwon Hee-dong said at the time of the contract, "I'm glad I can continue playing baseball. It is true that I had a lot of trouble thinking that I might quit baseball without knowing how it would go. After I started playing baseball, I thought about it the most and felt a great desire for baseball. It was hard, but it was a precious time for me. I'm grateful to NC for the opportunity, and I'll prepare well and come back to you in a good way."

Kwon Hee-dong, who belatedly joined the Futures League and started preparation for this season, was desperate. While playing for the Futures League for a month in April, he waited for the call to the main league. After being registered for the first time in the main league on May 4, he regained his position in the main left field. He has completely turned his FA contract into a bargain.

With a batting average of 285 (88 hits in 309 at bat) in 96 games, seven homers, 63 RBIs, 49 walks, 50 strikeouts and an on-base percentage of .388, he rebounded with a .405 OPS .793. With his unique on-base ability, he showed his ability to solve problems in the fifth central batting order with a batting average of 327 in scoring capacity and the most number of 10 winning hits in his team. He was also persistent enough to rank first (4.4) per batter out of 83 batters who entered 300 or more at-bats.

In recognition of his performance, he recovered to 150 million won in annual salary this year. It is the second highest annual salary in his career for Kwon Hee-dong, who received 170 million won in 2021 after contributing to NC's first integrated victory. It could have collapsed due to the FA trial, but it is a good role model for FA contractors who are disappointed this winter in that it was used as an opportunity to rebound.

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