The Futures FA system disappears into history and the second draft system is revived. It is expected that there will be an all-time great move.
KBO held its third board meeting on 꽁머니지급 the 12th and said, “We decided to revive the second draft to level up the league and ensure more opportunities for players.”
The second draft of the KBO will be implemented again after the end of this season and will be held every other year as before. KBO reduced the number of protected players from 40 to 35, while three lower-ranked clubs were given additional nominations after the first to third rounds of each club, allowing up to five players to be nominated and allowing up to four players to be nominated from one team.
Transfer rules have also changed. In 2019, the transfer amount was 300 million won in the first round, 200 million won in the second round, and 100 million won after the third round, but from this year, the transfer amount was 400 million won in the first round, 300 million won in the second round, and 200 million won in the third round, which the bottom three teams can nominate.
On top of that, mandatory registration regulations have been established to ensure as many opportunities as possible for players who have transferred to the second draft. During a season, it is mandatory to register at least 50 days for the first round and at least 30 days for the second round, and there is no mandatory registration rule for at least three rounds. If it does not meet the criteria within two years of the nomination, it will be announced as a free agent if it returns to the original club after the end of the second season, or if the original club does not want to return to the player.
Until now, the second draft has been known as a “field of opportunity” for many players. Representative success cases include Kim Sung-bae, who was nominated by Lotte in the first round in the second draft in 2011, and Lee Jae-hak, who was selected by NC as the second round.
Kim Sung-bae established himself as a must-win group as soon as he came to Lotte in 2012, and in 2013, he played as a finishing pitcher with two wins, four losses, 31 saves, and a four-hold ERA of 3.05. Lee Jae-hak also won the Rookie of the Year award in 2013 with 10 wins, 5 losses, 1 save, and a 2.88 ERA. Without the second draft, it is questionable whether he would have won 79 games in the KBO League.
Lotte also nominated Oh Hyun-taek in the third round in the second draft in 2017, and Oh Hyun-taek became the hold king with 3 wins, 2 losses, and a 25 hold ERA of 3.76 in 2018. Kim Dae-yu, who was nominated by LG in the third round of the second draft in 2019, also played a key role in mid-range pitching by accumulating 37 holds for two years. Now, he has moved to KIA as a compensation player for FA Park Dong-won.
From this year, as the number of protected players has been reduced from 40 to 35, it is expected that the “great transfer of all time” will take place. As there are 28 entries in the first division, a large number of players are expected to come to the market immediately. Will there be a new success story in the revived second draft. It is a ‘variable’ to pay attention to this winter.