SK Group Preparing for KBO Debut
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began conducting private meetings with the Korean Baseball Organization
(KBO) to discuss its possible home base, expansion fee and player selection
method. Lee Noh-jong, an executive of SK Group said; "SK will field a
team this year and with the help of the other teams, we will make an official
announcement soon."
Other teams are excited about the expansion and are doing whatever they
can to get SK included in the KBO. In order to pick a location as its home
base, SK has to get approval from the other teams in the league. President
Lee Nam-hun of the Hanhwa Group said, "If SK selects Chongju, (where
Hanhwa is based) its fine by me." The other teams are also poised to make
some sacrifices, if needed, in order to develop Korean professional baseball.
In respect to the expansion fee, to give an idea of how much SK might have
to pay to join the league, in 1986 Hanhwa Eagles, previously known as
Binggrae Eagles, gave a building, which cost W3 billion, as payment for
entry fee to the KBO. In 1990, Ssangbangwool Raiders, which is currently
under KBO mandate, paid W5 billion to join the league. However, drafting
players should be easier since SK can obtain former Ssangbangwool
players. Furthermore, SK will most likely be allowed to draft one player
each from the other teams, excluding 25 players who are locked in their
team contracts.
SK is also likely to be permitted to draft more than 2 foreign players, unlike
the other teams, which have a foreign player limit. Moreover, in next year's
draft, SK will have the number one pick. As its manager, SK is considering
former Ssangbangwool manager, Kim Joon-hwan, former Hanhwa manager,
Kang Byung-chul and former LG manager, Lee Kwang-hwan.
(Sung Jin-hyuk, jhsung@chosun.com)