“I want to play baseball for as long as possible.”
Kiwoom Heroes veteran infielder Lee Won-seok (36) puts his retirement concerns aside and looks forward to the day when he can play in spite of misfortune. Kiwoom’s first multi-year contract proposal extended his active life.
Kiwoom announced on the 28th of last month, “We signed a multi-year contract with infielder Lee Won-seok for the first time in the club.” The contract period is 2+1 years, guaranteeing two years from 2024 to 2025, and automatically extending by one year until 2026 when the option is met. The size of the contract is a condition of receiving an annual salary of 400 million won in the first year and 300 million won thereafter, up to a maximum of 1 billion won.
Not only Lee Won-seok himself메이저놀이터, but also his wife and other family members were delighted. Lee Won-seok, who was contacted by the club on the evening of the 27th and immediately signed the contract on the 28th, said, “I am grateful to the club for presenting good conditions. I was so happy that I couldn’t sleep well. “My wife was more happy than I was,” he said, unable to hide his joy.
In fact, in order for Lee Won-seok to reacquire FA qualification, he has to play another season next year, but the club decided to sign a multi-year contract with Lee Won-seok early and accompany him for up to three more years. Ahead of the 2021 season, Lee Won-seok signed a second FA contract with the then-affiliated club Samsung Lions.
After wearing the Kiwoom uniform through a trade last April, he was recognized in about two months and was able to accompany him for up to three more years. Ko Hyeong-wook, general manager of Kiwoom, said, “Lee Won-seok, who joined through a trade, quickly melts into the team and serves as the center of the lineup. He is usually sincere and leads by example, setting an example for his juniors. He acted as a reliable eldest brother and highly appreciated Lee Won-seok’s leadership and attitude in leading young players,” he explained the reason for presenting his multi-year contract.
After being nominated by Lotte in the 2nd round of the 2005 rookie draft (9th overall), Lee Won-seok became a Kiwoom man after going through Doosan and Samsung. I was in my late 30s, and I was thinking about retirement. “I thought a lot about it a few years ago,” he said. Immediately after the transfer, he seemed to have grown troubles because of poor grades,” he confessed.
Still, he said, “I want to play baseball as long as possible as long as my body supports me and I am competitive.” This is the reason why he said, “The period was the best regardless of the amount.”
Ah Won-seok said, “Because I have some room (mentally), I think I need to show good performance quickly. Since there are (Lee) Jeong-Hu and (Kim) Hye-Sung as dugout leaders, I will do my part to fill in the gaps behind them and to support the difficult parts.”