Salary Gap of 6.9 Times: Korea Faces 'MLB All-Star Squad' Dominican Republic in WBC Quarterfinals

Dominican Republic Boasts All-Star-Level, Star-Studded Lineup

Korea's Total Payroll: 61.65 Billion Won vs. Dominican Republic: 424.9 Billion Won

Juan Soto's Salary Exceeds the Entire South Korean Team

Ryu Hyunjin Announced as Korea's

The salary scale of the players for the South Korean and Dominican Republic national teams, who will face off for a spot in the semifinals at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), is reported to differ by approximately 6.9 times.

On March 12, Yonhap News cited the KBO office and the baseball statistics website Baseball Reference to conduct a comparative analysis of the "market value" of the players from South Korea and their quarterfinal opponent, the Dominican Republic.

South Korea's national baseball team pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu is warming up during practice held at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, USA, on the 12th (local time), one day before the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinals. Photo by Yonhap News

First, the total annual salary of the players on South Korea's final 30-man WBC roster amounts to approximately 61.65 billion won. Of this, the combined salary of the six players active in Major League Baseball (MLB) is 49.34 billion won, accounting for about 80% of the total team payroll. The highest-paid player on the team is Lee Junghoo of the San Francisco Giants, whose annual salary is 22.83 million dollars (approximately 3.38 billion won). Lee Junghoo's salary alone accounts for more than half of the team's total payroll. Among KBO League players, Go Youngpyo of kt wiz has the highest salary at 2.6 billion won, followed by Ryu Hyunjin (2.1 billion won) and Noh Siwhan (1 billion won), both of Hanwha Eagles.

In contrast, the total salary for the Dominican Republic team, which consists of MLB All-Star caliber players, amounts to 287.17 million dollars (approximately 424.9 billion won) for 28 players. This is about 6.9 times greater than that of the South Korean team. In particular, New York Mets’ Juan Soto earns 51.875 million dollars (approximately 7.66 billion won), surpassing the entire payroll of the South Korean national team. Additionally, top MLB sluggers such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays (about 5.94 billion won) and Manny Machado of the San Diego Padres (about 3.7 billion won) form the core of the lineup. South Korea has announced Ryu Hyunjin as the starting pitcher for the WBC quarterfinals, which will be held at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, USA, on March 14. After official training on March 13, national team manager Ryu Jihyun officially announced Ryu Hyunjin as the starting pitcher during a press conference.

The Dominican Republic national team is conducting official training at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, USA, on the 12th (local time), one day before the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinals. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

In an interview with domestic reporters, Ryu Hyunjin stated, "I will do my best to ensure that the match against the Dominican Republic does not become my last game wearing the national flag." The Dominican Republic will start left-handed pitcher Cristopher Sanchez of the Philadelphia Phillies. Last season in the Major Leagues, Sanchez recorded 13 wins and 5 losses, an ERA of 2.50, and 212 strikeouts.

In terms of salary and overall strength, the Dominican Republic is clearly superior. However, in international tournaments with single-elimination matches, upsets are always possible. The South Korean national team once defeated a U.S. team composed of MLB All-Stars by a score of 7-3 in the inaugural 2006 WBC. Former manager Kim Inshik, who led the team at that time, said, "You never know what will happen in a short tournament," adding, "If the team takes on the challenge without fear, they may achieve even better results."

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