Former Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin made KBO history with an eight-year contract worth 17 billion won ($12.8 million) with the Hanwha Eagles on Feb. 22.
The Eagles said Ryu’s contract has no incentives baked into the contract and all 17 billion won is guaranteed. It is also the longest contract in KBO history.
Initially, the Eagles had been expected to offer Ryu, who turns 37 later this month, 17 billion won over four years. But by spreading out the same amount of money over a longer stretch, the Eagles lowered the annual average salary for Ryu and appeared to have tried to stay under the KBO’s salary cap.
The KBO salary cap was set last year at just over 11.4 billion won, and teams exceeding it will be fined.
