Baseball league MVP re-signs with original club for 1 more year
SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Yonhap) -- Reigning South Korean pro baseball league MVP Yang Hyeon-jong will stay with his original club for one more season after he inked a lucrative contract on Thursday.
The free agent pitcher re-signed with the Kia Tigers after he agreed to a one-year deal that will give him 2.3 billion won (US$ 2.14 million) next season. Yang is now the second-highest paid player in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) behind Lotte Giants slugger Lee Dae-ho, who receives an annual salary of 2.5 billion won.
Yang this year made a total of 2.25 billion won after he signed a one-year contract that gives him 1.5 billion won in annual salary and a 750 million won signing bonus.
Yang, a left-handed pitcher, set a career high with 20 victories in 31 starts in 2017, becoming the first South Korean pitcher in 22 years to notch 20 wins in a season. He posted an ERA of 3.44 to rank fifth in the league and claimed his first MVP award in November.
The 29-year-old was also voted the MVP of the Korean Series, as his Tigers knocked out the Doosan Bears in five games to capture their first championship since 2009. Yang threw a complete game shutout in Game 2 and came out of the bullpen to record a save in the clinching Game 5.
Yang is the first player to win both the regular season and Korean Series MVP awards along with the Golden Glove in the same season.
"I feel more responsibility with a high salary," Yang said. "Now, I want to focus on training and prepare for the next season."
kdon@yna.co.kr
(END)
-
(News Focus) Display, electronics makers dealt blow by COVID-19 lockdowns in China
-
BTS to meet Biden at White House to discuss anti-Asian hate crimes
-
(URGENT) Russian, Chinese warplanes enter S. Korea's air defense zone without notice: JCS
-
Multiple Russian, Chinese warplanes enter KADIZ without notice: JCS
-
Premier League Golden Boot winner Son Heung-min receives hero's welcome home
-
(5th LD) Yoon, Biden agree to expand joint military exercises to cope with N.K. threats
-
(LEAD) Multiple Russian, Chinese warplanes enter KADIZ without notice: JCS
-
(News Focus) Display, electronics makers dealt blow by COVID-19 lockdowns in China
-
With historic Golden Boot, Son Heung-min cements case as greatest S. Korean footballer ever
-
(URGENT) Russian, Chinese warplanes enter S. Korea's air defense zone without notice: JCS
-
S. Korean volunteer fighter in Ukraine returns home with injuries
-
S. Korean midfielder Hwang Hee-chan to enter military training after 2 friendlies in June
-
BTS to meet Biden at White House to discuss anti-Asian hate crimes
-
S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases below 20,000 for 2nd day as omicron wave ebbs
-
U.N. Security Council fails to pass N. Korea resolution due to opposition by China, Russia