Value of free agents rises with professional baseball's growing popularity

[Anchor]

Professional baseball, which has ushered in an era of ten million spectators, is still hot even after the season has ended.

Despite evaluations that there are almost no 'S-class' star players, the rising popularity of professional baseball has also driven up the FA prices of players.

Reporter Heo Sol-ji reports.

[Report]

On the first day of the Free Agent market opening, the 4-year, 11 billion won contract for Choi Jeong was already expected by many people.

What actually surprised baseball fans was the FA contract of 5 billion won for Sim Woo-jun, which followed shortly after.

It was a choice to enhance mobility and infield defense, but it awarded 5 billion won to a player who has never recorded a batting average of .300.

[Sim Woo-jun/Hanwha Eagles: "Rather than just working hard, I will do my part well to reach a higher place and win."]

Hanwha Eagles, which ignited the FA market, also brought in starting pitcher Um Sang-back, who pitched a full season for the first time this year, for 4 years and 7.8 billion won.

Following this, they signed contracts with Hur Kyoung-min and Kim Won-jung, and today (Nov.11) they also secured the top bullpen player Jang Hyun-sik from LG Twins for 4 years and 5.2 billion won, bringing the total number of contracts in this season's FA market to over 40 billion won with 8 players so far.

With the blockbuster attendance of ten million spectators, all teams are expected to be in the black, and the fierce competition for rankings has become the biggest draw, making it inevitable to spend money on strengthening the roster.

[Chang Sung-ho/KBS Baseball Commentator: "The market often fluctuates based on how much the first FA contracts for. It creates conditions that inevitably raise the prices of the next players."]

However, there are concerns that the market may be overheated despite the absence of special A-class players, and there are calls for the level of the league to rise as much as the market has grown.

This is KBS News, Heo Sol-ji.