Pirates' Choi Ji-man loses salary arbitration: report

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korean first baseman Choi Ji-man has reportedly lost his arbitration case against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Citing a source, MLB.com reported Friday (U.S. local time) that Choi will make US$4.65 million this season, instead of $5.4 million he had demanded.

Choi, who was traded by the Tampa Bay Rays to the Pirates in November, made $3.2 million last year. He will become a free agent after this season.

Choi and the Pirates are off to a rocky start in their relationship. Prior to the arbitration ruling, the Pirates decided to withhold Choi from playing for South Korea at next month's World Baseball Classic (WBC), as he recovers from a minor right elbow surgery from November.

Choi said afterward he was "devastated" and "deeply hurt" by the decision, while the Pirates defended their choice by citing their concern about his preparation for the first season with the new club.

"As we get closer to the season, we anticipate he's going to be fine," Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington told MLB.com. "He's on the right track. But his offseason was different than they had been in the past. And, yes, that was part of the conversation about the WBC. At the time those decisions were made, it wasn't clear that he was going to be fully ready to participate in a way that you'd want a player to be. So we had some concern about that and had a conversation with him. But we anticipate that where he is now, he'll be fully ready by the time we get ready to play this season."

Manager Derek Shelton said he will speak with Choi about the situation and added, "Don't really feel that it'll be an issue at all."

In 2022, Choi batted .233/.341/.388 with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs in 113 games, missing time with assorted injuries.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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