The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization announced an 11-year extension with third baseman Si Hwan Roh that covers the 2027-37 seasons. The contract is the longest deal in KBO history and the most expensive, as Roh is set to earn up to $30.7 billion won (a little over $21.3MM in USD). Some options are included in the deal, including the intriguing possibility that the extension might not take place at all — following the 2026 KBO season, Roh is allowed to explore a move to Major League Baseball via the posting system.
If Roh is posted next winter and he doesn’t agree to a deal with a big league team within the 30-day posting window, he’ll return to the Eagles and enter into his 11-year commitment. If Roh does sign with a MLB club, the Eagles would be in line for a posting fee if Roh landed a guaranteed deal worth at least $25MM. The fee would be worth 20% of the first $25MM of Roh’s contract, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and $15% for anything beyond $50MM.
With $21.3MM already waiting for Roh, any interested Major League teams would likely have to significantly top that figure to lure Roh away from the Eagles. The likelihood that MLB locks out the players next winter is another chief factor for Roh and other international talents, as they may prefer to remain in their own leagues rather than come to the big leagues at a time of labor turmoil.
There’s also the fact that Roh may not trigger his posting clause out of sheer loyalty to the Eagles. “I want to share the beginning and the end with Hanwha. I have never once thought about leaving the team, so I don’t even want to imagine it,” Roh told ChosunBiz and other outlets. The length of the extension held particular appeal for Roh, as “the number 11 resonates with me more than the figure of 30.7 billion won. It motivates me and makes me proud. Joining the Hanwha Eagles and being able to play for a single team for a long time as a baseball player is an enormous source of pride and was my dream.”
With all this in mind, Roh’s contract might be nothing more than transactional footnote as it relates to fans of Major League Baseball, if he indeed remains with the Eagles for the remainder of his career. The nature of the contract perhaps could be a precedent for international teams (from the KBO or Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball) to entice some top talents into staying put, rather than seeking out a contract in North America. Should a team put a concrete contract and figure on the table, the player now has a clear price point to take across the pond when negotiating with MLB teams.
Fans will get a chance to see Roh in action for South Korea’s team during the World Baseball Classic, and he has an impressive resume over his seven seasons with the Eagles. Roh has hit .264/.352/.449 with 124 home runs over 3347 career plate appearances, and he hit a career-best 32 homers in 2025 while helping the Eagles reach the Korean Series for the first time since 2006. Roh has played exclusively at third base for the last two seasons, and he saw some action at shortstop and first base earlier in his career.
Roh is entering his age-25 season, so he’d be 26 if and when he is posted for big league teams in the offseason. This young age surely informed the Eagles’ decision to make such a lengthy commitment to Roh, and his youth may hold particular appeal (though obviously not in the form of 11 years) to any interested MLB teams.
