MLB Indefinitely Postponed Due to COVID-19 Impact... Salary Cuts Expected for Ryu Hyun-jin, Choo Shin-soo, and Others

Baseball player Ryu Hyun-jin (33, Toronto) / Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Seulgi Kim] The opening of the 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) season in the United States has been indefinitely postponed due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Amid this, MLB announced that players' salaries will be paid on a per-game basis proportional to the number of games played, which is expected to lead to salary cuts for Korean players such as Ryu Hyun-jin (33, Toronto) and Choo Shin-soo (38, Texas).

According to the U.S. Associated Press (AP) on the 5th (Korean time), the 2020 MLB players' salaries will be paid on a per-game basis proportional to the number of games played.

According to AP, star players like Mike Trout (LA Angels, $222,222) and Gerrit Cole (New York Yankees, $222,222) receive more than $200,000 per game, but due to the reduced number of games caused by COVID-19, their financial losses are significant.

Moreover, 65 players including these stars are expected to suffer financial losses due to COVID-19. Among these 65 players, two are Korean players: Ryu Hyun-jin and Choo Shin-soo.

The salaries of the two players are $123,457 for Ryu Hyun-jin and $129,630 for Choo Shin-soo, which means that at the start of the MLB season, Ryu would receive about 151 million won and Choo about 158 million won per game. However, the media explained that if the opening is delayed and the number of games decreases, they will suffer corresponding financial losses.

According to AP, Kim Kwang-hyun (St. Louis) and Choi Ji-man (Tampa Bay), whose MLB debuts have been delayed, will not receive $24,691 (about 30.3 million won) and $5,247 (about 6.4 million won) per game, respectively.

Meanwhile, MLB aims to resume camp in June and open the season in July.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.