KBO free agent Ko Jong-wook rejoins Kia Tigers on two-year deal

Outfielder Ko Jong-wook has re-signed with the Kia Tigers on a two-year deal worth 500 million won ($385,000), the team announced on Tuesday, becoming the second player of this year's free agent pool to go off-market.

Kia Tigers' Ko Jong-wook bats during the bottom of the seventh inning in a game against the LG Twins at Gwangju Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, Gyeonggi in September. [YONHAP]

Outfielder Ko Jong-wook has re-signed with the Kia Tigers on a two-year deal worth 500 million won ($385,000), the team announced on Tuesday.

Ko is now the second free agent in this year’s market with a contract after Lotte Giants’ outfielder Jeon Jun-woo re-signed with the Busan team on Monday.

“I am grateful to the Kia team and coach for giving me another opportunity,” Ko said in the Tuesday announcement. “I was given the opportunity to become a free agent, but I quickly completed the contract because I wanted to stay with Kia rather than another team.”

With the deal, Ko gets a 150 million won annual salary with a 100 million won signing bonus and 100 million won more in incentives.

Ko added: “I will become a player who can repay the support of Tigers fans with good performances.”

Ko, 34, has a .303 career batting average with 46 home runs and 393 RBIs. He’s so far played two seasons with the Kia Tigers, playing in 114 games last season where he recorded 80 hits, three home runs, 39 RBIs with a .296 batting average, according to the announcement.

“We have signed this contract because we highly evaluate the performance of Ko Jong-wook, who has played a big role in the team’s batting lineup over the past two years,” a Tigers official said.

Ko entered the KBO’s free agent market in category C, the third and lowest-ranked classification group, which opened Sunday with 19 of 34 eligible players entering into the signing pool.

The top players in the league — top three in their club and top 30 in the KBO by salary — make it into group A. Players who fall between fourth and 10th at their club and 31st and 60th in the league by salary go in B, with everybody else in C.

Three players in this year’s market fall into category A: Pitcher Ju Kwon of the KT Wiz and pitcher Hong Geun-hui and infielder Yang Suk-hwan of the Doosan Bears. None of them have inked new deals as of press time.

Tigers infielder Kim Sun-bin is also in the pool as a category B pick.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]