KBO regular-season champions Wiz reward manager with record contract

The Korean baseball regular-season champions KT Wiz announced on Monday that they have signed their manager, Lee Kang-chul, to a record contract. The Wiz disclosed that they have agreed to a three-year deal worth 3.4 billion won ($2.6 million) for Lee, making him the highest-paid manager in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) history.

As part of the contract, Lee will receive an annual salary of 800 million won and a signing bonus of 1 billion won. This new deal surpasses the previous record set by the LG Twins skipper Youm Kyoung-youb, who signed a three-year, 3 billion-won contract in November last year. Prior to this new contract, Lee's previous three-year agreement with the Wiz was set to expire at the end of this season.

It was worth 2.4 billion won. Lee has been in charge of the Wiz since 2019. During his tenure, he guided the team to their first postseason appearance in 2020, followed by their first-ever Korean Series title in 2021. This season, the Wiz achieved a franchise-record 90-game regular season win total, securing the first position in the standings and directly advancing to the Korean Series, which commences on November 2.

The Wiz have made the postseason in six out of the eight seasons that Lee has managed the team. The 60-year-old manager boasts an impressive record of 618 wins, 501 losses, and 29 ties in 1,148 regular-season games with the Wiz.