Swallowing Pride, Money
Centennial, Players Feud Over Pay Cuts
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Former Hyundai Unicorns players might have felt relieved when Centennial Investment finally purchased the team after a series of setbacks in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO)'s search for a new owner.
But it's doubtful they have the same emotion now, as the eighth baseball club in the league is elaborating on drastic pay cuts for its players.
The team recently suggested to its veteran players that it could slash salaries as much as 80 percent.
Catcher Kim Dong-soo, who earned 300 million won ($300,000) last year, was offered 60 million won, and outfielder Jeon Joon-ho was tendered at 70 million won, 72 percent less than last year's 250 million.
Centennial also proposed that pitcher Jeong Min-tae, a former 20-game winner, and outfielder Song Ji-man earn 80 million won and 200 million won, respectively. Jeong made 310 million won last year, while Song received 600 million.
General manager Park No-joon had meetings with high-salary players on Jeju Island, where the team trains now, and reached a conclusion that it must lower its payroll.
``It is inevitable to cut Kim's and Jeon's salaries to adjust to the team's financial state, although they showed solid performances enough to increase the amount,'' Park said.
``Even though Jeong cannot sidestep the sharp reduction, the rest of them produced as good of numbers as others in the league,'' said the former Unicorns coach. ``The players expected the pay cut to an extent, but it is much more than expected.''
Kim, 39, had four home runs and 39 RBIs with a batting average of .278 in 111 games last year, and Jeon batted .296 with 11 stolen bases in 121 games.
Song, 34, logged 15 homers and 64 RBIs with a .281 average, while Jeong went 0-6 with a 12.81 ERA last season.
The scrapping of a rule on limiting pay reductions enables the curtailment. Last week's board of directors meeting agreed to discard the rule after a request from Centennial.
According to the rule, players' salaries which are more than 200 million won cannot be cut by more than 40 percent.
The maximum rate of cut for players who received between 100 and 200 million won should not be more than 30 percent, while the pay reduction should not be more than 25 percent for salaries less than one million won.
In addition, the team is cleared not to authorize current players' free agent and option deals because the KBO ruled that a new team does not have to fulfill agreements signed between players and the Unicorns.
Song, who inked a three-year free agent contract in 2006, is supposed to make 500 million won for his salary and 90 million won as an option, and right-handed pitcher Kim Soo-kyung agreed to a deal in 2007 that if he won 10 games that year, he would qualify for free agency.
Kim, 28, had a 12-7 record with a 3.88 ERA.