S. Korean baseball teams agree to give extra players for new club

SEOUL, June 21 (Yonhap) -- The top local baseball league on Tuesday agreed to provide extra players for an expansion team at upcoming drafts, in a move designed to help the new club ease into the circuit.
At a board meeting attended by presidents of the league's eight existing teams plus the new club, the NCsoft Dinos, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) approved special draft rules for the expansion team.
NCsoft is a South Korean online game company, and the Dinos will be based in Changwon, about 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul. They were approved as the ninth member of the KBO in March this year and hope to join the league by 2013. It will be the KBO's first expansion since 1991.
Under the rules, the Dinos will be awarded the top two selections at the annual rookie draft in both 2011 and 2012. After the end of two rounds at the 10-round draft in those two years, the Dinos will be allowed to select five more players.
This year's draft is scheduled for Aug. 25.
Also, the Dinos will be able to acquire four foreign players and place three on their active roster for their first two seasons. Other teams are permitted to place only two imports on their active rosters.
Foreign players in the KBO, some of whom have Major League Baseball playing experience, often account for a huge part of their team's offense or pitching.
The Dinos will also be able to take veterans from other teams after the 2012 season, under existing rules on expansion drafts. A new club can pick a player from each existing team, but cannot select players who are on each team's "protected" list of 20.
The KBO will also run a local equivalent of the major leagues' "Rule 5" draft.
In the big leagues, young players who have been with the same team for four to five years but who are not currently on the team's 40-man roster are eligible for the Rule 5 draft. It is designed to prevent teams from stockpiling young players in the minor leagues when other clubs could be employing them in the majors.
In the KBO, the eight existing teams will each make a list of 45 protected players, and the draft will take place once every other year. The Dinos will get the first overall pick, and after the end of all three rounds, they will get five additional choices.
Draftees will cost a team between 100 million won (US$92,300) and 300 million won.
Lee Tai-il, president of the Dinos, said he was mostly satisfied with the decisions Tuesday, but said the Dinos have an immediate need for experienced players so that they can compete in the local minor league next year.
"We asked the teams to make their players available at the end of this season for the expansion draft," Lee said. "Our goal is to join the KBO in 2013 to help create more jobs in baseball and to make it easier for a 10th team to be launched."
The KBO has said it hopes to have an even number of clubs since that would provide an option for a two-division league.
Baseball here has enjoyed massive popularity in recent years, buoyed by South Korea's success at the Olympics, the Asian Games and the World Baseball Classic.
All eight current clubs are owned by private corporations, some by large conglomerates such as Doosan, Lotte and Samsung.
jeeho@yna.co.kr