The LG Twins announced on the 21st, “We signed a four-year contract with pre-agent (FA) player Lim Chan-kyu for a total of 5 billion won (down payment of 600 million won, annual salary of 2 billion won, incentive of 2.4 billion won).”
Lim Chan-kyu played for LG for 11 seasons from 2011 to 2023, recording a career-high 298 games (1075 ⅔ innings) 65 wins, 72 losses, eight saves, and five holds with an ERA of 4.62. He started the season as an intermediate pitcher in the 2023 season and settled himself as a starter at a time when his team was in a difficult situation, and with 14 wins, he recorded the most wins (third overall) among Korean pitchers in the league.
“He is an essential player as he represents the team. He has led the team’s younger juniors well and played a big role in helping the team win the unified championship due to his positive influence. Notably, this season marked career highs, making the team look forward to the next season even more. He will not only lead the team in a good direction but also lead the team in a good direction,” the LG Twins said.
Lim Chan-kyu, who finished his contract, said, “I’m glad that Elin can continue to wear a striker uniform that I’m proud of as a native. I didn’t think about other clubs. I wanted to continue to be a player for the LG Twins, but I thank the club for signing me a good contract. Thanks to the fans who always cheer me on, I think I was able to achieve the best results of this season. I could feel the power of our fans once again, and I’ll prepare to bring good results next year and the year after next so that they can always smile,” he said after completing the contract.
5 billion won is a big deal. However, the contract guarantees 2.6 billion won (approx. If the conditions of the contract are too broad, the contract would not be burdensome to the player, but it is an unusual contract that puts the player at a disadvantage. However, Cha Myung-seok and Lim Chan-gyu’s agent Lee Ye-rang, CEO of Ricoh Sports, also said they are satisfied with the contract.
■ Agent Lee Yerang
Lim Chan-kyu’s agent, Lee Ye-rang, CEO of Ricoh Sports, explained about the contract. “As the player said, I lowered my guarantees and gave more options. We talked about various things from the beginning. That’s why we talked about contract training, and some players tend to have different tendencies rather than a uniform contract,” Lim said.
In the early days of the FA market, there were many rumors related to Lim Chan-gyu. How much was offered by other clubs? Rumors spread even before negotiations started, such as asking LG for some money. “In fact, one of the misunderstandings was that there was a talk with other clubs,” CEO Lee Ye-rang said. “I never said that in the first place, and in fact, I negotiated with LG alone,” Lim said from the beginning, adding that he had no intention of leaving for another team.
While continuing the negotiations, Lim Chan-gyu’s side and Cha Myung-seok exchanged various stories. “This idea came up then, and we actually lowered the amount than the initial offer made by the club,” CEO Lee Ye-rang said. “We raised the total amount (as an option) instead. And Lim Chan-gyu also told me that it would be good to receive the contract because he is healthy and shows good performance. The agent must proceed with the contract that the player wants. Lim Chan-gyu looked very cool and good.”
■ General Manager Cha Myeong-seok
“There is a player who has almost reached an agreement. I think we will be able to deliver the news right away. We have a few final things to reach an agreement,” Cha said at the last YouTube live of this season on Tuesday. “I think we’re almost there.” Lim Chan-kyu was the star.
The last few options seem to be related. After the contract was announced, Cha said, “I talked to Lee Ye-rang about raising the total amount of money, and we wanted to put up safety measures, and that’s why we did it because it was right.”
Options are conditions that are accepted whenever a certain standard is met. “Options are given every year when they are achieved. The player confidently said he would do it, and since he said he would do well, he trusted me and did it for me. If it is around this season, I can fully accept it,” Cha said, explaining that he increased the total amount to 5 billion won while increasing the option.
Lim Chan-kyu has displayed outstanding performances this year. He pitched 144 ⅔ in 30 games (26 starts), recording 14 wins, three losses and an earned run average of 3.42. He ranked third in multiple wins (14 wins) and second in winning percentage (.824) to post career-high performance.
However, Lim has not displayed consistent performance. According to his performance over the past four years, he has won 10-9 and posted an ERA of 4.08 in 27 games in 2020. He has been sluggish for the next two years. He only had one win, eight losses and an ERA of 3.87 in 17 games (90 ⅔ innings) in 2021. In 2022, Lim was sluggish with 6 wins, 11 losses and an ERA of 5.04 in 23 games (103 ⅔ innings). Lim was able to become an FA last year, but gave up and chose to return to the FA. 토토사이트 추천
This year was a big twist. Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop started Lim’s tenure as a long relief pitcher. Young rookie players including Kim Yoon-sik, Lee Min-ho and Kang Hyo-jong started as three to five starters. However, as starting pitchers left the team due to sluggish performance and injury from April, he appointed Lim as a starting pitcher. Lim has displayed his best performance in 11 seasons since he rotated as a starting pitcher since late April.
Lim has opened his eyes as a starting pitcher for this season. Yeom Kyung-yeop’s advice has increased his confidence in his fastballs and improved his pitching design by mixing changeups and curveballs. He is confident that he will achieve good results next year as well as this year. For this reason, he confidently accepted the contract, which offers nearly 50 percent option. Rather, he asked the team to lower the amount guaranteed and increase the number of options.