Although he still showed off his competitive edge even at an age beyond his age, ‘Stone Buddha’ Oh Seung-hwan (41, Samsung Lions) prioritized team performance and responsibility as a veteran rather than individual.
Samsung announced on the 11th that it had decided to entrust Oh Seung-hwan’s annual salary blank. It means that he will accept the salary as determined by the club without ‘negotiating’ it. Most of these choices occur when individual grades are not good, but Oh Seung-hwan is different.
Last year, Oh Seung-hwan was still in charge of the team’s back door and showed competitiveness.
He appeared in 57 games, going 6-2 with 31 saves and 2 holds, and an earned run average of 3.32. Of course, he wasn’t as ‘forceful’ as he was in his prime, and he showed poor physical condition at one point, but considering his 40-year-old age, he left behind decent grades.
Nevertheless, the reason Oh Seung-hwan declared the entrustment of the salary blank was because his team performance was sluggish.
Samsung, which took second place after a close battle with KT Wiz in the 2021 regular season and a tiebreaker, failed to advance to the postseason by falling to 7th place after a year last year. During the season, bad news occurred when coach Heo Sam-young resigned.
In the midst of this, Oh Seung-hwan, the most senior member of the team, expressed his intention to focus more on managing his condition for a rebound in the new season rather than negotiating salary.
The Samsung team also explained, “Oh Seung-hwan said he would take responsibility for the team’s failure to advance to the postseason last year.”
Oh Seung-hwan received an annual salary of 1.6 billion won last year. It is the second largest amount in the team after Koo Ja-wook (2.5 billion won), who signed a non-FA multi-year contract.
In particular, from the 2023 season, a salary cap, which is the upper limit of the total team salary, may be applied. It was a decision that could relieve the team’s worries along with a sense of responsibility.
The club that has been entrusted with the blank is expected to make a decision to freeze or cut. Considering various factors such as Oh’s age, team performance, and salary cap, 온라인바카라the possibility of a reduction is high.
However, the range is not expected to be large. This is because of the symbolism of ‘One Club Man’, who has played only in one Samsung team since his debut, and the courtesy of ‘Baek Ui-jong’.
Another important reason is that Oh Seung-hwan will become a free agent after the 2023 season. It is unknown how long Oh Seung-hwan, who has just turned 41, will remain active, but his competitiveness is still strong enough. If Seung-Hwan Oh transfers to free agency after the season, it is not easy to make a large cut because the salary of the previous season becomes the standard for compensation.
With friends of the same age born in 1982 who enjoyed the ‘Golden Generation’ retiring one by one, attention is focused on the 2023 season of Oh Seung-hwan, who will continue his active life with Choo Shin-soo and Kim Kang-min (above SSG Landers).