“Min-ho, I’ll put a ring on your finger”: 43-year-old veteran’s chilling prediction... aims to make his 2.6 billion won price tag pay off “in one lump sum”

[Financial News] Age really is just a number. Choi Hyoung-woo (43, Samsung Lions), the oldest active player in the KBO League, completely dominated the “Choi Hyoung-woo Derby” named after him, leading the Lions to the Korean Series for the first time in two years.
When he returned to his former team, Samsung, last winter after qualifying for free agency (FA) for the second time, on a deal worth up to 2.6 billion won over two years, some expressed concern about his age, well past 40. But with his outstanding performance in this playoff (PO), Choi proved to fans why his contract was a bargain that saved the team money. 
On the 1st, Choi started at left field and in the No. 5 spot in the lineup against the Kia Tigers in the decisive fifth game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO postseason playoff at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. He led the team to a dominant 6-1 victory, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and delivering the go-ahead hit.

With the game still finely poised in the bottom of the first and two outs with runners on first and second, Lewin Díaz struck out, threatening to halt the momentum. At that critical moment, Choi stepped to the plate and went with a 152-kph fastball from Kia Tigers starter Adam Oller, driving it to center field for an RBI single.
That one hit sparked the Samsung offense, and the Lions rode the momentum to score three runs in the second and take control early. Choi proved his class again in the third, getting a hit off ace Yang Hyeon-jong.
This series was truly “Choi Hyoung-woo’s stage.” After having to watch from the bench as his team suffered a heavy loss in Game 1 of the playoff, he made a complete turnaround on both offense and defense when the coaching staff took the bold step of putting him in left field instead of at designated hitter from Game 2 onward.
Despite playing outfield defense in fall baseball for the first time in eight years, he recorded a “laser-beam assist” in Game 2. At the plate, he wielded a red-hot bat, hitting .385 (5-for-13) with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs over four games.

In particular, he followed up a solo home run that put Game 2 out of reach with a go-ahead solo shot in Game 4 that broke a 1-1 tie, rewriting every postseason record for the oldest player to appear, hit, drive in a run and hit a home run.
As it happened, the team he dealt a decisive blow to was none other than his former club, the Kia Tigers. A key player in Samsung’s four straight combined regular-season and Korean Series titles from 2011 to 2014, he moved to Kia in 2017 and went on to lead the Tigers to championships in 2017 and 2024. The “postseason maestro,” who collected six championship rings with the two teams, is now looking to stop his younger counterparts in red and bring a seventh ring to his former team.
Last winter, Choi confidently told his friend and fellow free agent Kang Min-ho, who was hesitating over an FA contract, “Sign quickly. I’ll put a ring on your finger.” That romantic promise is now just one step away—with only four wins to go. 

After proving on the fall stage that he was worth every bit of his 2.6 billion won price tag, the veteran now has his sights set on the Korean Series title, where regular-season No. 1 kt wiz await.
If he wins the seventh championship ring of his career in this Korean Series, his 2.6 billion won price tag will be fully paid off “in one lump sum” at that very moment. Anything after that is a bonus. 
When the ring he confidently promised Kang Min-ho becomes a reality, the value of his free-agent contract will be proven, quite literally, in full.
Choi Hyoung-woo’s final autumn stage, where he will receive his seventh ring alongside the long-awaited V9, now gets underway.

[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter