Save the cause of 'Korea's highest contract', reduce annual receipts, prevent exceeding salary cap, record oldest person to play if completed for 8 years,
joined Hanwha Japan spring camp today

On the 22nd, when Ryu Hyun-jin's return to Hanwha was confirmed, a sign in a taxi in Daejeon, Hanwha's home stadium, said 'Ryu Hyun-jin! A banner with the phrase ‘Thank you for coming back!!’ appeared.

‘Ryu Hyun-jin! Thank you for coming back!!'

On the 22nd, when professional baseball team Hanwha officially announced the return of 'Korean Monster' Ryu Hyun-jin (37), a taxi with this phrase written on the inside appeared in Daejeon, the club's hometown. Hanwha junior Noh Si-hwan (24) also captured the scene of Ryu Hyun-jin entering a mobile messenger group chat room and posted it on social media, writing, “King is back.”

Hanwha announced on this day that it had signed an eight-year contract with Ryu Hyun-jin for a total of 17 billion won. The contract size is the largest ever in Korean professional baseball, and the contract period is tied for first. Until now, the largest contract was that free agent (FA) Yang Eui-ji signed a contract with Doosan for 15.2 billion won (4+2 years) in 2022, and Park Min-woo, who qualified as a free agent in the same year, signed a contract with his former team NC for a total of 140 million won over 8 years. It set a record for the longest period of time by stamping billions of won.

From the first news that Ryu Hyun-jin decided to return to Hanwha after 12 years, it was almost like a fait accompli. However, few people expected that they would be covered for the longest period of time. Regarding this, Park Chan-hyuk, CEO of Hanwha Club, said, “The most important thing was ‘symbolism.’ “He set a period to give the largest contract the meaning of ‘Eternal Hanwha Man,’” he explained. If Ryu Hyun-jin, born on March 25, 1987, continues his career as a player until 2031, the last year of his contract and when he turns 44, he can break the record of team senior Song Jin-woo (58) for the oldest appearance in professional baseball history (43 years, 219 days).

An eight-year contract is beneficial not only for the cause but also for practical purposes. This is because he can enjoy the effect of having his average annual payment reduced by half. If this happens, Hanwha will have room in the salary cap (maximum of total annual salary). Currently, the salary cap for each Korean professional baseball team is 11,426.38 million won. When signing a 4-year contract, Ryu Hyun-jin alone accounts for 37.2% of Hanwha's salary cap, but when signing an 8-year contract, it decreases to 18.6%. In American professional baseball's Major League Baseball (MLB), the annual salary deferral system is mainly used when wanting to 'bypass' the salary cap, but there is no such system in Korean professional baseball.

Ryu Hyun-jin (right), who wore the uniform of his former Korean professional baseball team, Hanwha, again for the first time in 12 years, received a bouquet of flowers from CEO Park Chan-hyuk after signing an eight-year contract with the club for a total of 17 billion won on the 22nd. ‘8 years, 17 billion won’ is the largest contract in Korean professional baseball history.

When Ryu Hyun-jin graduated from Dongsan High School in Incheon in 2006, he received a contract deposit of 250 million won and wore a Hanwha uniform. Afterwards, he played for Hanwha for 7 years until leaving for MLB in 2013, earning a total of 1.64 billion won in annual salary. The total annual salary received over 11 years in MLB is approximately $133.89 million (approximately KRW 177.9 billion). Adding this contract to this, Ryu Hyun-jin will earn close to 196.8 billion won through his professional career. Separately, Ryu Hyun-jin left about $25,747,737 (about 34.2 billion won) in posting fees (transfer fee) to Hanwha when he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013.

Among Korean baseball players, only Choo Shin-soo (42, SSG) has more career earnings than Ryu Hyun-jin. Choo Shin-soo earned approximately 203.1 billion won in MLB and Korean professional baseball. The total annual salary of Park Chan-ho (51), the ‘Korean Express’ who has experienced professional baseball in both Korea, the United States, and Japan, is around 117 billion won.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who was the first Korean professional baseball player to step onto the MLB stage, said, “Since you have trusted me and treated me well, I will do my best to create new records and history by playing an active part as a member of Hanwha again.” He added, “I am considering the timing of my return.” However, I concluded that it was right to return to Hanwha as soon as possible when I judged that my skills were sufficient. “I am truly happy and excited to be back,” he said. Ryu Hyun-jin will leave for Okinawa, Japan on the morning of the 23rd and join the Hanwha 1st team spring camp.

On this day, the Toronto club, where Ryu Hyun-jin played for four years until last year, posted on social media, ‘Ryu Hyun-jin, thank you. He left a message of support in Korean, saying, “The Korean Monster in Toronto will be remembered forever.” 일본야동