When clubs negotiate with FA, the most careful and careful consideration is whether or not they are injured. The contract period and annual salary are determined based on injury history and current physical condition. No matter how good your skills are, if the risk of injury is high, you cannot touch the money you want.
Last winter, free agent shortstop Carlos Correa agreed to a 13-year, 안전놀이터$350 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, but the contract was canceled after an abnormality was discovered in a physical examination, followed by a 12-year, $315 million contract with the New York Mets. However, it was canceled for the same reason. This is because there are traces of an injury to his right ankle during his minor league days with the Houston Astros, and it has been diagnosed that he is at high risk of injury.
In the end, Correa concluded negotiations with the Minnesota Twins, the original team, by significantly reducing the terms and renewing the contract for 6 years and 200 million dollars. Superagent Scott Boras tried, but couldn’t convince San Francisco and the Mets. Injuries are such a sensitive subject.
Choi Ji-man of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who will qualify as a free agent after this season, is again caught in an injury. He sprained his left ankle while receiving a defensive fungo ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals game on the 15th (Korean time) and was excluded from the lineup.
On the 20th, the Pittsburgh team officially announced Choi Ji-man’s Achilles tendon injury. He doesn’t need surgery, but he has been diagnosed with at least 8 weeks of rehabilitation. The club explained that Ji-man Choi injured his Achilles tendon during spring training. In other words, the injury sustained during the demonstration game was aggravated during the recent training session.
If he’s 8 months into rehab, that means he’ll be out of at least 2 months. His return date is mid-June at the earliest. In the end, Choi Ji-man could not fill the required at-bat this season.
Choi Ji-man, who made his major league debut with the Los Angeles Angels in 2016, joined the Pittsburgh through a trade in November of last year after going through the New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers, and Tampa Bay Rays. However, he has never had a season in which he filled the regulation plate.
Because he was weak against left-handed pitchers, his platoon method was constantly applied, and injuries were frequent. If nothing else, injury is a fatal weakness that has no excuses.
It is the first time since his debut that Choi Ji-man has injured his Achilles tendon. Choi Ji-man, who injured his left ankle during Tampa Bay in July 2019 and his left hamstring in September 2020, started the season late with right knee surgery in 2021 and suffered groin and hamstring injuries one after another during the season. .
And at the end of April last year, he injured his right elbow and underwent surgery to remove a bone fragment in his right elbow right after being traded to Pittsburgh after the season. Since 2019, this is the 7th IL listing.
Choi Ji-man has a batting average of 0.125 (4 hits in 32 bats), 2 home runs and 2 RBIs in 9 games this season. He has not yet gotten a single walk and has struck out 15 times, so he even suffered an injury in a situation where the feeling of hitting was the worst.
If he wants to be confident in the FA negotiations at the end of this year, he has no choice but to rebuild his performance with a healthy body after returning.