The Samsung Lions, who tied for first place at the end of 144 regular season games in the 2021 KBO League, fell to 7th last year. Most of the teams that do not perform well in the KBO league are due to injuries or sluggishness of foreign players. However, Samsung was active enough to successfully renew contracts for all three foreign players, Buchanan, Suarez, and Pirella, but the sluggishness of domestic players was serious.
In particular, veterans who receive high salaries were low last year compared to 2021. One of them was veteran catcher Kang Min-ho, who was playing his first season after a free agent retention contract.
In 2021, Kang Min-ho led Samsung’s good performance with a batting average of 0.291, 18 homers, 67 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.839. Since 2018, when he transferred to Samsung with a 4-year FA contract worth 8 billion won, his batting average and OPS were the highest among four seasons. WAR (Based on Kaby Report), which represents the contribution to victory compared to substitute players, was 4.09, which was the best since 2017 when he was a Lotte Giants. During the season, he joined the Tokyo Olympic team and continued his reputation as a ‘national catcher’.
However, there was also a point of view from some that the so-called ‘FA Lloyd’ was activated ahead of the acquisition of the third FA qualification. This is because the total WAR for the three years from 2018 to 2020 was only 6.85 and fell short of expectations compared to large free agent contracts. 슬롯사이트
After the end of the 2021 season, Kang Min-ho stayed with Samsung for a total of 3.6 billion won in 4 years of free agency. The amount was small compared to the previous two free agency contracts, but the four-year contract guarantee was meaningful to Kang Min-ho. This was because Kang Min-ho, born in 1985, will turn 37 in 2022 and will be 40 when his 4-year contract expires.
Last year, Kang Min-ho had a batting average of 0.258, 13 homers, 66 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.739, all of which were more important than the previous year. In particular, OPS fell by exactly 0.100. The WAR was 2.22, only half of what it was in 2021. Amid Kang Min-ho’s sluggish performance, Samsung struggled to the bottom and failed to advance to the postseason.