On Monday this week, the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced the signing of left-handed pitcher Dana Eveland. The former member of the Baltimore Orioles in Major League Baseball (MLB) signed a one-year pact worth $300,000, which included a signing bonus of $50,000, according to the Eagles. The figure was in line with the KBO salary cap on foreign players.
It seemed like a harmless announcement, a typical offseason move by a KBO team trying to shore up its pitching staff by adding a foreign hurler with major league experience.
Then the situation became all confusing.
In an online article dated Dec. 16 Eastern Standard Time in the U.S., the Baltimore Sun also reported on Eveland's signing but with a twist.
The story, quoting an unidentified industry source, said the left-hander signed for $675,000, with another $225,000 available through performance-based incentives. It meant Eveland could potentially make $900,000 in the KBO.
Eveland made $750,000 with the Orioles in 2012.
Contrasting reports such as these have fueled years-long controversy over the salary cap on foreign players in the KBO. The debate is centered on whether the KBO should consider raising the cap or whether it needs the cap at all, at a time when teams allegedly pay their imports more money than permitted under the table.
The hard cap is currently set at $300,000, and teams are only permitted to sign foreigners to one-year deals. If they want to retain their foreign players for the following season, the salary may not be raised by more than 25 percent.
When the KBO teams were first allowed to sign foreigners in 1998, the cap was $120,000. It was raised to $200,000 in December 1999 and again to $300,000 five years later.
The Eagles claimed the Baltimore Sun report was inaccurate and maintained Eveland signed for $300,000, as the contract states.
The Eveland fiasco wasn't the first such case this year. In January, former MLB pitcher Justin Germano opted not to re-sign with the Samsung Lions, the team that he had helped win the KBO championship in 2011, and instead joined the Boston Red Sox to resume his major league career. U.S. reports then said Germano turned down a $1 million offer from the Lions to return to the majors. The Lions denied the reports.
Under the KBO rule, contracts that violate the salary cap are to be voided. But a KBO official admitted there is no particular rule that allows the league to penalize the team or the player, aside from voiding the deal.
"There is a limit to what we can do to clubs even if allegations (of salary cap violations) surface, because we're not an investigative or judicial body," the official said, on the condition of anonymity. "We basically review their contracts, but it can be difficult to track any extra money being paid to players aside from the contract."
Disillusioned baseball fans this week bombarded message boards in their online communities, with many saying teams' alleged violation of the salary cap is "the worst-kept secret" in the KBO. They also said KBO fans aren't foolish enough to believe players with major league experience would be willing to take a huge pay cut to fly across the Pacific and play in a league largely unknown to them.
Fans also called on the league to scrap the cap rule altogether since teams aren't abiding by it anyway.
The league explained that the cap rule, honored or not, is in place to ensure some semblance of balance among teams.
"Without the cap, even more money will change hands than now," the KBO official said. "Clubs with deeper pockets will throw around money, and that will lead to the inflation of player salaries and also affect the competitive balance."
An official with a KBO club, requesting anonymity, said raising the salary cap may be the more "realistic" solution than abolishing it.
"If we didn't have the cap, poorer teams may not even be able to negotiate with desirable players," the official added.
A second KBO official said team general managers met earlier this week for an offseason seminar and they all agreed to review rules guiding foreign player signings, including the salary cap, before the start of the 2013 season.
According to the change, adopting an offseason tryout camp for foreign players and having a separate draft for them were discussed as possible changes.
The Korean Basketball League (KBL) teams hold annual tryouts in the U.S. each offseason. (Yonhap)
It seemed like a harmless announcement, a typical offseason move by a KBO team trying to shore up its pitching staff by adding a foreign hurler with major league experience.
Then the situation became all confusing.
In an online article dated Dec. 16 Eastern Standard Time in the U.S., the Baltimore Sun also reported on Eveland's signing but with a twist.
The story, quoting an unidentified industry source, said the left-hander signed for $675,000, with another $225,000 available through performance-based incentives. It meant Eveland could potentially make $900,000 in the KBO.
Eveland made $750,000 with the Orioles in 2012.
Contrasting reports such as these have fueled years-long controversy over the salary cap on foreign players in the KBO. The debate is centered on whether the KBO should consider raising the cap or whether it needs the cap at all, at a time when teams allegedly pay their imports more money than permitted under the table.
The hard cap is currently set at $300,000, and teams are only permitted to sign foreigners to one-year deals. If they want to retain their foreign players for the following season, the salary may not be raised by more than 25 percent.
When the KBO teams were first allowed to sign foreigners in 1998, the cap was $120,000. It was raised to $200,000 in December 1999 and again to $300,000 five years later.
The Eagles claimed the Baltimore Sun report was inaccurate and maintained Eveland signed for $300,000, as the contract states.
The Eveland fiasco wasn't the first such case this year. In January, former MLB pitcher Justin Germano opted not to re-sign with the Samsung Lions, the team that he had helped win the KBO championship in 2011, and instead joined the Boston Red Sox to resume his major league career. U.S. reports then said Germano turned down a $1 million offer from the Lions to return to the majors. The Lions denied the reports.
Under the KBO rule, contracts that violate the salary cap are to be voided. But a KBO official admitted there is no particular rule that allows the league to penalize the team or the player, aside from voiding the deal.
"There is a limit to what we can do to clubs even if allegations (of salary cap violations) surface, because we're not an investigative or judicial body," the official said, on the condition of anonymity. "We basically review their contracts, but it can be difficult to track any extra money being paid to players aside from the contract."
Disillusioned baseball fans this week bombarded message boards in their online communities, with many saying teams' alleged violation of the salary cap is "the worst-kept secret" in the KBO. They also said KBO fans aren't foolish enough to believe players with major league experience would be willing to take a huge pay cut to fly across the Pacific and play in a league largely unknown to them.
Fans also called on the league to scrap the cap rule altogether since teams aren't abiding by it anyway.
The league explained that the cap rule, honored or not, is in place to ensure some semblance of balance among teams.
"Without the cap, even more money will change hands than now," the KBO official said. "Clubs with deeper pockets will throw around money, and that will lead to the inflation of player salaries and also affect the competitive balance."
An official with a KBO club, requesting anonymity, said raising the salary cap may be the more "realistic" solution than abolishing it.
"If we didn't have the cap, poorer teams may not even be able to negotiate with desirable players," the official added.
A second KBO official said team general managers met earlier this week for an offseason seminar and they all agreed to review rules guiding foreign player signings, including the salary cap, before the start of the 2013 season.
According to the change, adopting an offseason tryout camp for foreign players and having a separate draft for them were discussed as possible changes.
The Korean Basketball League (KBL) teams hold annual tryouts in the U.S. each offseason. (Yonhap)
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